Donating eggs

How do I go about doing it? I've wanted to for a long time now.
I know the process as I watched my sister go though it, so it doesn't scare me.
But, I want to do it at as little cost to a family as possible and for practical reasons for my family it would have to be done in Melbourne or Perth.
I want to be able to choose (as hard as that would be) who they go to and I want to meet them and hopefully share their joy of they fall pregnant.
Where do I even start with something like this?

There are a few ways. You can join a forum such as Aussie Egg Donors where families advertise for recipients, or you can read the adverts at the back of Melbourne Child (or Perth equivalent) magazine and choose someone that way. Another way is to approach an IVF clinic and ask them, they may have a family on their books who is looking for a donor. Being a known donor is a common way to do it but some recipients will prefer anonymity for various reasons.

What Trav said. Another forum to join is Egg Donation Australia. They have a lot of women on there who have donated who can answer all your questions.

I have a girlfriend who donated three times through Epworth IVF, she now speaks at their info sessions. She was very happy with them throughout the process. She chose to be an anonymous donor and her DH felt more comfortable with that, but I know it was her choice whether to be known or anonymous to the families she donated to.

Maybe you could give them a call?

I think you can go straight to the fertility clinics and offer.

You can directly contact a clinic. They will ask initial questions over the phone about genetic history, fertility etc. Then there is a counselling session and initial bloodtest, a three month stand down and then another counselling session. I have heard some clinics won't start the ball rolling until you have an intended family due to costs but in NZ at least they seem happy to start the process whenever, so I guess the recipients just cover the costs further down the line.

Thanks guys :) I'm going to look on those forums and go from there :)

Can I digress the question a little from the OP and ask what peoples thoughts are on donating frozen embryos?

A good friend advised me to take at least a year or two to make any decisions on this - but I'd love to hear from anyone and particularly those trying to conceive - what their thoughts are on donated embryos.

Thanks,


X

Loulabelle, I'm in Kalgoorlie and I saw a flier up in our only OB clinic that was asking for donor eggs for a local couple. The clinic is closed until after Christmas, I think. Would you like me to get some info from them about it?

We have 3 embryos in the freezer and I'm totally undecided about at what stage to donate them. We will donate any unrequired ones. I'd be an egg donor in a heart beat, but think I might be pushing the age restrictions by the time we have another baby and go through breastfeeding for 2 years. Pity, because my babies are cute as buttons. ;)

Loulabelle - there's a 3 month cooling off period in WA, as in NZ. They dont have that in Victoria. Counselling involves at least one session with just yourself and partner and one session with the intended parents, if you're donating to a known recipient.

thirdtime - I know of a number of women/couples who would love to adopt an embryo. Sadly, few are available. Most people seem reluctant to let their DNA grow up without them. I've been doing a lot of reading about this area and the field of epigenetics is very interesting. It's the gestational mother's DNA that turns on certain genes in the embryo, so even with the exact same embryo, theoretically 2 different mothers or gestational carriers could produce 2 different children. Given that many of the embryos in storage wouldn't have a life unless they were donated (and survived the process), I think it's a wonderful gift on many different levels. Adoption of a child in Australia is next to impossible. It would be fabulous if embryo adoption was easier.

I *love* epigenetics! Apparently it is only around 30% of genes are set at conception and the rest depends on environment during pregnancy and the first three years when the brain is developing the fastest.

I read a really lovely story of a couple that had one last embryo to donate but there needs to be a minimum of two for donation to happen. The donor family and the embryo adoptive (right terminology?) family both appealed to the ethics committee several times before they were finally allowed to give that little embryo a chance and a healthy girl was born.

I too looked into donating eggs but unfortunately my DH is very much against it and whilst I am married to him I can not donate. When I enquired the clinic said you have to have your husbands consent to do so. Like L&B said my DH is reluctant to let mine or his DNA grow up without us. When we were going to start IVF if we have any remaining embies left I wanted to donate them to another couple but DH refused. Fortunately we conceived naturally so we didn't have to make a decision which we were never going to agree with. It is a wonderful gift to give someone else. I have been the midwife caring for a lady who eventually had her DS from a donated egg (her DH sperm) they had been ttc for well over 15years. It will go down as one of my most rewarding experiences been involved in assiting them to bring him into the world.

That's really interesting l&b! I never knew that.
Thankfully my dh is well on board. To both us, it wouldn't our child. I see it the same as donating blood, giving an a gift to someone else and once in their body completely theirs. I'm not using them and it feels wrong to let them just go every month when people are desperate to be parents.

A lovely kindy mum did this through Hollywood Fertility Clinic in Nedlands Loulabelle. She had no interest in knowing where they went or what ended up happening - her knowledge is limited to knowing they got 7 fertilised eggs that went to two families - but had a really good experience doing it through them

We've also got 3 frozen embryo's and not sure what to do with them. This is child number 6 for DH, so he is really reluctant to have anymore (although he hasn't said it). I'm happy with our 2 boys, but a bit nervous to do anything...