Potential/Current Donors Discussion Thread #1

[clare076]

HI girls
I am considering egg donation. I have wanted to do it for a very long time, since my very good friend was seeking donation after surviving cancer. At the time I felt it would be "too close to home" to donate, as I also had no children of my own. But now as I am in the process of making the decision on whether I want more children, the desire to do it has resurfaced.

Is there anyone on the boards that has been a donor? What is the process in becoming a donor? What are your legal rights, as far as any children born through donation?

[boomba]

What a wonderful thing to help a friend in need! I am still waiting to here of anyone who has donated! I wouldnt be considering it till I have had all the kids I want, so that will be in at least 10yrs
Good luckx

[Lissie]

Clare & Bomba,

You are both wonderful women for even considering to donate. My DH and I have been on the receiptient end of donations. All i can say is if you do decide to donate you will be giving another couple so much hope that they would not have if you did not donate. I just think donors, egg, sperm or embryos are the most selfless people out there - you are giving another couple the chance of being parents and that is a gift beyond words.

[clare076]

Oh Lissie, thankyou so much for your kind words, I got warm fuzzy feelings just reading it I am definately looking into it, I only hope the fact that we lost our Angel baby Max to a chromosomal problem doesn't stop me from doing it.
Having my children has bought so much joy into my life, and how I see it, I am prepared to donate my organs when I dont need them so my eggs aren't any dfferent.

Fingers crossed everyone, hopefully I can help out at least 5 families. (thats the number they give you supposedly)

[Arimeh's Eden]

I would definitely be interested in donating mine also, may as well help out others when I have finished!!! :-) I'll only have one more after this one (if this one isnt a devil child of course ;-))

[briggsy's girl]

the gesture you're all considering making is amazing!

i believe the process is very similar physically to ivf in terms of stimulating the donor to create a large number of eggs, which are then picked up the same as IVF - the egg is then fertilised with the recipient partners sperm. if you want to read about the physical process, read some of the ivf threads - it's not the most comfortable procedure - but it's an amazing and selfless gift you're giving and could bring a huge amount of joy to people you may or may not meet!

my understanding is that there is significant counselling beforehand to confirm your understanding of the process, that you have finished your own family etc - but haven't really looked at that side of things!


again - you're great people for what you're contemplating!

[alioops]

I have joined an Egg Donation website. PM me for details if u r interested. they go into all the info you will need and have FS on there to ask big questions to.

[arielle]

Clare! Thanks for starting this thread.
I am another who would like to consider donating my eggs after finishing my family.
I have a friend who was advised to use donor eggs after many years of doing IVF unsuccessfully. At the time I had a really big think about it, and chatted lots to DH. After this, I decided I would like to offer her my eggs after I'd had my own family if she still needed them. Thankfully for her, she finally fell Pg after 8.5yrs doing IVF with her own eggs. She is now 30wks Pg, and is thinking she would probably like more than one child if it's possible. I have kept my offer open to her, and am thinking of the possibility of being an anonymous donor down the track also, however, I am thinking that I may be over 35 by the time I finish my family, so am wondering if there's a cut off age for egg donors? Would anyone know?

Due to my Dh's swimmer issues, we will have to go back to IVF / ICSI for future kids. We have decided that if we end up with excess embryos after completing our family, we will donate them. Again, I am wondering if any age limits apply here (both maternal and paternal, as my Dh is well and truly over 35).

Arielle

[sushee]

arielle,

I'm pretty sure that 35 is the cut off age for donors, but whether this is flexible or not, I'm not sure. It's an amazing thing to undertake too, and I applaud you all for your decision. I'm waaaay over the cut off age and DH is not keen on it, but it would have been something I would have liked to have done.

[arielle]

Thanks Sushee. I thought that may be the case, but will look into it a bit further.

[Marj]

Hello Sue,
I am in the process of donating eggs at the moment and I would be very interested in finding out about online support groups. (I only know one other person who has done it and it's been great talking with her about it, but I'd like to find out about different experiences and assure myself that some of my feelings are common!) Can you recommend any?
Marj

[anney]

Hi Marj,
suziq doesn't hang around here much any more but both her and I belong to a fantastic online support group for both egg donors and recipients. It is Australian/NZ based called aussieeggdonors (AED for short). It is really hard to find via a google search so if you email me at anney2227@yahoo.com.au I will send you a link as I don't think I can post the address here. there are a few people from BB on AED.
It really is worth joining something like this to think about all the issues as it really can be something that affects you and your family for a long time.

[mummycate]

I'm thinking about donating some eggs. Can you do this and still want to have children in the future? I don't know much of the process but its something I've always wanted to do.

[mrsr]

Good question Cate.

[Lissie]

Hi Girls,

I have been a recipient of egg donations, sperm donation and now embryo donation. All i can say is what fantastic woman you are for even wanting to donate. It is the most incredible gift to receive from another person, okay so far i have not had a live baby but at least i was given the chance and that in itself is amazing. If you do decide to go thru with donation, you will have lots of counselling and one thing they are fairly big on is that you have finished making your own babies first, they will most likely not let you donate if you have not finished with your own family, however they did let my BIL donate sperm and he has never had children and is unlikely to now as he is 48 and says he does not want any children. The way my egg donor explained it to me (she is a friend) is that she does not love her eggs and she looses one a month anyway, she said to me and i quote " just think of it as making a cake and you have run out of flour so i gave you the flour you needed and now the rest is up to you and nature" i think it was a good way of explaining it, however i know of woman who say they could never give an egg away and i respect that too, we all look at life differently. I just think you woman are fantastic for giving such a gift - thankyou to all of you for the potential families you will make.

[anney]

Hi girls,
Yes donating eggs is really an amazing gift to give someone and it is often much needed and much appreciated. As Lissie says, giving someone the opportunity to have a child when they cannot is amaxing.
My donor is single and does not have children and would like to one day and there was no problem with her donating. it seems some Fertility specialists don't like to treat people who have not finished their family but some don't mind. My FS said the risk was in the surgery for the egg pick up, mainll because any surgery, no matter how minor carries some risk. I know at least 3 people who have donated, thinking they had finished their families and then gone on to have another child.

[mummycate]

Well I'm a single mum and 21. So I don't know how far in the future I will be having any more children. But, yes I agree with your donor friend, losing one a month, why not give them to someone else? I donate blood and plasma, why not eggs? For men its much easier to donate sperm, but its more complicated for women, and there is huge demand for it.

In Qld, where would I go to start the process of donation?

[Marj]

Just in response to the question about whether it's possible to donate when you want to have more children in the future - my fertility clinic didn't seem fussed at all about this. I have a child already but have not closed my mind entirely to another in the future if that were to happen. However, I'm perfectly happy to have one child. I think it's certainly important to be aware that there is a risk of things going wrong because the process involves surgery and that's never guaranteed to be 100% safe, so maybe it's worth thinking about very carefully before making that decision. Then again, is there anything in life that's guaranteed? (Hope none of this sound negative! Just busy thinking through these issues myself, kind of thinking aloud.)
Marj