by Amy Fletcher

Created on: November 28, 2009

Egg Donation

Are you considering egg donation? Let's look at your options. Technology and research has allowed for many advances. Being told you cannot conceive no longer rules you out as a parent. Some of the possibilities are surrogacy and egg donation. Here we will look at egg donation.

Some things you may want to know about the person that the eggs are harvested from are; age, nationality, health background, physical qualities, and beliefs. Each individual may have other qualifications that they want to consider. Most agencies will only take egg donations from woman aged 21-34. Being at least 21 ensures that they are old enough to enter a legal contract. Being younger than 35 raises the likelihood that the pregnancy will be successful with less chance of birth defects. It is even better if the candidate has already had a child, proving that they are more fertile.

Most anyone can consider egg donation, but because of the monetary aspect and the physical aspect you may want to take careful consideration. The cost to the clinic can average between $15,000 and $20,000. There are medications that the woman receiving the donation will have to take in preparation of the eggs. Also, keep in mind that there are risks involved. There is a 48% chance of becoming pregnant from egg donation, but 15-20% chance of the pregnancy ending in miscarriage. Like with any pregnancy there is a 3-5% chance of birth defects.

A legal contract will be drawn up by the clinic's lawyer to protect all of the parties involved. There will be no chance of the egg donor being given parental rights. But laws do vary from state to state and should be looked into.

Generally, the woman who would want to consider egg donation would have premature menopause, or ovarian failure, history of genetic disease, poor egg quality, and over the age of 39.

Now, if you are considering being a donor there are things to consider. Most agencies will want you to be between 21 and 31 years old, and under 160#. You and your families health history is very important. The whole process will take approximately 3-5 weeks. You will be given medication to stimulate your ovaries before the aspiration of your eggs. The side effects of these medications are possible nausea, sleeplessness, and cramping of the ovaries from over stimulation.

Egg donation is a viable option for woman who are having trouble getting pregnant on their own. What a fantastic, and giving gesture to help a family experience the joy of raising a child.

References:

http://www.eggdonation.com/index.php

http://www.americanpregnancy.org/infertility/donoreg gs.html

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