Egg Donation & Sharing
Becoming an egg donor is not easy. One must need to meet certain criteria for suitability. The age limits
required in becoming an egg donor is between 18 and 35 because the fertility of women begins to decline from 35
above. In exceptional scenarios, some fertility clinics still accept egg donors beyond the given age bracket above.
Before a woman becomes an egg donor, she is required to undergo some screening tests. These tests will reduce the
risks of deformities or passing on diseases to any resultant child. A written consent is a legal requirement as
well for those women who wanted to become an egg donor. It contains terms and conditions that the donated eggs will
be used in treatments. On the other hand, egg donors are still given the chance to withdraw their consent until the
time that their eggs are used in treatment.
In egg donation procedure, the donor is given with rights and responsibilities. The payment of donors is
strictly prohibited but they can claim for reasonable expenses such as loss of earnings or for travel. The amount
to be claimed will depend on the time when the egg donation occurred.
Numerous fertility clinics worldwide offer programs on egg sharing procedure. Such procedure involves a woman
undergoing fertility treatment and would donate some of her eggs to the clinic where she is being treated. As a
return, the clinic will subsidize the treatment costs or expenses of the woman. Egg sharing program is an
arrangement often introduced by IVF clinics to their patients who cannot afford the expensive costs of IVF
treatment. The egg sharer should be healthy and fit, and must be under 35 of age. She must understand the number of
embryos available for freezing is likely to reduce.
Today, thousands of babies have been born all over the world through egg donation and sharing programs.
According to studies, the programs will not have an effect that will compromise the sharer’s success rate.
Potential egg sharers are carefully screened and assessed for genetic diseases and infectious. Meanwhile, egg
sharers who have poor egg quality or with suspected or known poor ovarian response are not allowed for the
programs.
Since the idea of egg donation and sharing program is very complex, it is essential for couples to undergo
independent counseling before embarking on the program. For those infertile women who undertake IVF treatment,
their eggs are collected and shared between the egg recipient couple and infertile couple. The minimum number of
eggs required for sharing is eight but it still depends on the different fertility clinics. In most cases, the
cycle of egg donation and sharing does not flow smoothly as planned. There are cases that the eggs collected are
not enough for splitting. Sometimes, the cycle treatment has to be rejected due to poor development of the
follicles. The causes of the poor development may include failure for the embryos to divide or failure of the eggs
to fertilize.
Being an egg donor may also have implications such as side effects and risks from the medications. These may
include sleeplessness, headaches, and hot flushes. One serious risk is the ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome that
causes vomiting, nausea, abdominal discomfort, and fluid retention. Since the procedure of egg donation and sharing
involves a surgical procedure, there is a potential risk of damage to the blood vessels and pelvic organs as well.
In some cases, women may loss their uterus and cannot get pregnant anymore.
|