Sign of recession? Egg donor applicants on the rise

by Angie Felton (Subscribe to Angie Felton's posts) Aug 6th 2008 4:00PM

Times are tough. Gas is expensive, which in turn means everything has a higher price tag, while salaries remain the same or jobs are downsized. What's a person with a family and bills to do to make ends meet?

According to a recent article in CNN, one option more women are turning to is donating eggs for profit at fertility clinics, where egg donor compensation can range anywhere from $5,000 to $10,000.

This seems like a pretty staggering sum until one considers all that is required:

A donor must first undergo a battery of psychological and physical exams, a process that can last from 30 to 40 days and eliminates 90 percent of applicants.
When selected, the donor starts three weeks of hormones injections to promote egg production.
There are also blood tests and up to 10 visits to the fertility center for ultrasound monitoring. "It is such a long, agonizing process," an egg donor named Michelle said. "It's six to eight weeks of poking and probing and blood work."
A minor surgical procedure called a transvaginal ovarian aspiration is used to retrieve the eggs and may require a couple of days of recovery for the donor.

After all the procedures, poking and pain, the donor gets a decent-sized check and the good feeling that they are providing another couple with the possibility of having their own family.

Helping infertile couples is terrific, but I'd always have the niggling thought in the back of my mind that the girl my son was dating could possible be my biological daughter from one of those donated eggs. Stranger things have happened.

Source

Comments (17)

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Egg Donor Program Director 8-06-2008 @ 6:47PM

The risk of consanguinity is miniscule: remember that adoption has been going on for hundreds of years with the same risks.

After the donor passes her screening (which can occur in one appointment over a period of 3-4 hours), the typical number of days required to take the drugs is between 8 and 12. The monitoring is done first thng in the morning and only takes a half hour or less.

Egg donation is best to supplement income: the most desirable donors are well educated and middle class.

For the real facts and statistics about egg donation, go to the CDC site, SART.org. and www.assistedfertility.com.

Jane 8-06-2008 @ 9:04PM

Why is the ideal donor well educated and middle class? Just because someone is poor and not well educated doesn't mean they don't carry "good" genes. Your DNA doesn't determine your finances.

Egg DOnor Program Director 8-06-2008 @ 9:48PM

True, Jane.

However, most people who can afford IVF treatment with donor eggs are educated and middle class, and desire donors who are like them as much as possible.

Also, in general, the more educated you are and the higher class you are, the more access you have to good health care and nutrition. This is an unfortunate reality.

It's more than just DNA that people seek in an egg donor: it's also good health and habits, intelligence and education (so she can understand and follow directions), and personality and interests.

Choosing a donor is not a completely rational process.

June 8-06-2008 @ 8:10PM

Where's the "No, I'm not going to help someone else be selfish and spend all of that money, so they can give birth to "their" child when they could adopt a child in need," option for the poll?

Virginia 8-06-2008 @ 8:39PM

Wow. I understand what you are saying, but that's pretty harsh. There are definately a lot of children in need of homes, and I would never be opposed to adopting - but why shouldn't people who need some assistance in the process have the same opportunity to have children as those who easily can? I think it is a natural instinct to want to have your own children that share your genetics and not really selfish at all.

June 8-07-2008 @ 10:16PM

But I think it is. Why do people want to have kids? To raise them the way that they think a child should be raised? To create a little "mini-me"? They want to be able to say "Oh, yes I've raised a human being that I can be proud of," to raise their ego and to give them some kind of purpose in life.

And how much money do you think they spend on these treatments? There are starving people all around the world and like I said children waiting to be adopted. Couldn't they spend their money to help those in need rather than helping themselves? Most people are also born with a conscious.

italo babini 8-06-2008 @ 8:39PM

OUR WOIRLD ARE GOING CRAZY EACH MINUTE, AND SO ARE THE PEOPLE LIVING ON IT.___AMERICA'S VALUES ARE GOING DOWN AND DOWN, AND PEOPLE ARE ONLY THINKING IT BEEN FUNNY. THEN WHEN WE ARE CALLED THE "CULTURE OF THE UNCULTURED" EVERY BODY GETS UPSET......THIS IS REALLY FUNNY.

R 8-06-2008 @ 8:49PM

A few of my college room mates did this...they found the process to be quite bearable and did it numerous times. One was even told that she was risking her own ability to have children if she did it again. Donors are told not to drink or do drugs in the period before their eggs are harvested..girls I knew did both. Clearly they were interested in their own financial gain and did not mind exploiting the struggle that others were enduring for a child in order for money for spring break..and couldnt be bothered to take good care of their bodies/eggs which they were being paid for...

Michele 8-06-2008 @ 8:56PM

I wish I would have known this exsisted when I was younger. I had so much trouble getting pregnant with my kids... it took 4 years to be able to conceive both of them. I did not know that nicotine effected the sperm. This has been a very informative article for me. For the person who commented about people with money wasting it, it is NOT a waste if you can't get pregnant. I know that I did not feel like a "complete" woman until I was able to bear a child. No matter how you have a child, it is NOT selfish to want to give love to any child... your own, adopted, or given to you by someone elses eggs or sperm.

victoria 8-06-2008 @ 9:04PM

This is ridiculous. I am sorry for those who want to have children but can not. I understand that need but the world is already full of children who need a home. Then people wonder where all these diseases and medical defects are coming from all of a sudden. It's sad to say but when people are adopted or genetically made like these children too many blood lines are crossed. Genetics that should not have been mixed together are getting mixed. It's not on purpose but it's happening and that is where these problems are occuring.

Egg Donor Program Director 8-06-2008 @ 9:41PM

True, Jane.

However, most people who can afford IVF treatment with donor eggs are educated and middle class, and desire donors who are like them as much as possible.

Also, in general, the more educated you are and the higher class you are, the more access you have to good health care and nutrition. This is an unfortunate reality.

It's more than just DNA that people seek in an egg donor: it's also
good health and habits, intelligence and education (so she can
understand and follow directions), and personality and interests.

Choosing a donor is not a completely rational process.

www.assistedfertility.com

EggDonor221 8-06-2008 @ 9:47PM

Hi -

I thought this article was interesting, considering several years ago, I was an egg donor myself. Actually, I donated my eggs in two separate cycles to three families.

I will agree, it is a very long and hard process, lots of appointments, lots of medicine and a paycheck at the end.

HOWEVER, what I continue to be disappointed about, is the lack of knowledge anyone seems to have on the long term risks and effects this has on these young women who are egg donors.

I want to point out, that I would not have done this if I did not think it was an amazing procedure and if I did not feel so lucky to be able to help these families make their dreams come true by having a child(ren) of their own... I do not regret participating in the egg donor programs at all.

Like most donors, I was in my early 20s and did not have any children of my own. Actually, children were not even on my mind at that time. I did not really ask any questions when they told me that no studies had been done on egg donors, therefore, they really did not know if there were any risks or not.

As it turns out, in my later 20s, I had quite a difficult time conceiving. I eventually ended up turning to In Vitro Fertilization myself. We used my eggs and my husbands sperm, and I am fortunate enough right now to be pregnant with our first child! Did my egg donations have anything to do with this? MAYBE. MAYBE NOT. But, there are NO STUDIES BEING DONE. This is CRAZY. Like any other medical procedure, there should be follow up with these donors - 1 year, 5 years, 10 years later.... To determine what happens to your body after you go through this very invasive procedure. Does this cause high FSH Levels? Which decreases the quality and production of your eggs? Or could it all be a coincidence that some egg donors grow up to have natural fertility problems anyway? It would be nice if some studies were conducted about this!

Egg and sperm donation do not create medical defects. Normally all egg and sperm donors are checked and tested WAY more thoroughly than the average person who gets pregnant on their own. In most ideal cases of IVF, the eggs and sperm are from the parents, so no crazy bloodlines are being crossed.

Also - adoption is a wonderful thing. But so is medical technology. I dont really feel like anyone could understand the need for these fertility treatments unless you have been there yourself. You cannot put a dollar amount on a child... whether its through fertility treatments or adoption!

- Previous Egg Donor

Egg Donor Program Director 8-06-2008 @ 10:19PM

Dear Previous Egg Donor:

It is not true that no studies are being conducted on the long term effects of IVF and egg donation: to the the ASRM site for more information on this.

The process of donating eggs is identical to the IVF process you underwent to have your own child, only in the latter, the embryo was implanted in your uterus instead of somebody else's. So you put your body through a nearly identical risk, whatever that risk may turn out to be.

Congratulations on your pregnancy!

Jan Bay 8-06-2008 @ 10:22PM

Who pays for the battery of required tests? The potential recipients or the donors? Do the tests have to be performed before the first donation only or prior to any and all donations?

Jan from http://www.unique-baby-gear-ideas.com/

Egg Donor Program Director 8-06-2008 @ 11:18PM

Hi Jan:

The recipients pay for all tests, including a donor oocyte insurance policy, whether the egg donor has her own insurance or not (the insurance policy can be from $180 to $400; the screening can run up to about $2500). The egg donor should not be responsible for any medical costs.

If the subsequent donation takes place at the same clinic, some but not all tests will be repeated. If the donation takes place at a different clinic, the doctors review the records from the previous donation(s) and determine what tests need to be repeated.

For more information, go to www.assistedfertility.com. You can find information there for egg donors as well as egg donor recipients.

bluehen98 9-26-2008 @ 11:26AM

I have donated 4 times and couldn't feel better about doing it. Why shouldn't someone who wants kids be able to choose how they have them? Pardon me, but some of the above comments are really ignorant. Why don't you adopt some of those kids in need if you feel so strongly about it? The reason for me donating are personal and my own. I have 2 of my own children that I had prior to my donations. Who are you to say someone else shouldn't pay me to help them experience pregnancy and childbirth? The sad thing is if it doesn't work, there is no money back guarantee. I think it's important for people to get all the facts before they open their mouth.

Barbara 10-14-2008 @ 2:57PM

What about this true life fact. My daughter has not only donated eggs but has been a surrogate with her own egg many times. My family and her dad's family suffer from intense alcoholism, mental illness and obesity. I have already seen one granddaughter go down in flames from addiction. The people adopting these eggs or her children are not informed about this fact. If they were they would run the other way. Buyer Beware!

How To Submit Photos:
If you'd like your children (any age will do!) featured on ParentDish, upload photos into the ParentDish Flickr Pool. Be sure to read our main Flickr page for more information.