Advice wanted on donating an egg

[lilipad23]

Hi everyone.
I am seriously considering donating an egg to a couple who would love to have a family. Although i think it something i very much want to do i would love any advice on donating. I am aware of the practicalities such as age, having to have a family etc. whatt i am after is advice from people who have donated -their experience (positive or negative)and although through this thread i am not looking for a recipient - all people looking for an egg are welcome to reply and give me an insight into their life and how being unable to concieve has affected them.
thank you everybody.
ann. :smiliedance:
xxxx

[Roxy]

Hi Lilipad!

There is loads of information in this section - and a really good place to start in in the sticky's at the top. They contain some really good stuff about the who's, what's, why's and wherefores that a donor starting out should know.

If you have any other questions - fire away!

[Mash]

Hi Ann.. Good on you for wanting to donate and find out info!
I have a daughter who I love to pieces and she is only here because my good friend Rox decided to donate her eggs and we became friends.. Its been a really positive experience for us and we have a great relationship.. My daughter is 9 months old.
Just wanted to say asking recipients to come here and share what their life is like being unable to concieve is probably a bit raw for any of us to do.. Its heartbreaking for all of us. We all have stories of how we got to where we are. When you are looking for someone.. find someone who wants the same as you and who you click with, because a lot of stories will pull at your heartstrings..but you can't help everyone. Anyone on this journey wants children desperately, and has had a tough road.
My daughter completes me.. and our little family. theres not much more that I can say besides that. This was the only way I could have had that..and been so blessed with her and the little person that she is and the person that she will become.. That is what you are thinking about giving someone..

[lilipad23]

thanks for your advice mash!
In time i hope to find a person i click with and hopefully have the wonderful outcome that you , your family and donor have experienced.

Thanks again.
ann.
xxx

[kandd]

Hi Lillipad,

Thank you for considering to be a donor. I hope one day you may find a recipient couple who you "click" with and are willing to give this wonderful and generous gift to.

I like Mash am a recipent. I was lucky enough to find our donor here on Bubhub 12 months ago. The link in my signature will take you to our joint story that we decided to publicly share in the hope of somehow helping/encouraging others. You will see that we have developed and absolutlely wonderful friendship and that a very close bond has developed between our two families.

Unfortunately, I fell pregnant and had a very early m/c. We have 6 embryos on ice and will be having a second attempt very soon. Sarah (our donor) has given us an opportunity to have a family after many years of heartbreak. There are no words that can relay how grateful that I feel for the opportunity.

Diana xx

[lilipad23]

Thanks for your reply, it is really nice to hear from you.
Getting encouragment is very welcome as the whole process is a bit overwhelming. But reading everyones stories helps.
I think donating would be easier if you didnt have to have a family to donate. It is my child that makes it even more daunting. The fact that she is very much involved in this and not just during the donating stage with possible travel and all that is involved but in the future if a child was born from my eggs.

I am taking my time to make sure i make the best decision for my own family aswell as helping someones dream of having a family come true.

Thanks again.

Ann. xxxxx:wave:

[Roxy]

Ann,

I took my kids to Melbourne with me when it came time for egg pick up. I treated it like a holiday for them, and they had a great time. They spent the morning with Mash and her DH whilst I was in hospital, but that was the only time that I couldn't be with them.

The next time Mash and I cycle, we will arrange EPU to be during my DD's school holidays, so it won't impact on her schooling, and again, a holiday in Melbourne for them will just be another grand adventure!

Good on you for taking your time and doing your research. It really makes a difference to your expectations when you have taken the time to get to know all you can about egg donation.

[lilipad23]

thanks for that - it is great to hear from toher people who have children involved inthe process.
i must admit my daughter is only 1 so it would make it easier to travel with her if i had too.
I do not know alot on the actual process of transfering the egss though.
Could you give me advice on the medical side - what tests i will undergo and what drugs etc and procedures for them to take eggs.

thanks heaps!!

ann.xxx:babydust2:

[Roxy]

As a donor, you will undergo some intial bloodtests (most clinics just check for STD's, some do more testing for genetic conditions like Cystic Fibrosis etc).

Then, after counselling, you undergo a full IVF cycle - normally starts with you and your recipient on the pill to sync your cycles, then the donor will use a down regulation drug that puts her ovaries into a peri-menopausal state (so that you don't ovulate!). This is normally done with either a nasal spray or injections.

During the down-reg phase, you will have a trans-vaginal scan, to ensure that your ovaries are "sleeping", and once that is confirmed, then you get to start on the stim drugs, that will stimulate your ovaries into producing more than one egg. The stim drugs are injections, but are more often than not injected using a pen like system (a bit like an epipen). You will most likely have at least 2 more trans-vaginal scans, to check on follicle development, and once the follicles are nearly ripe, you have your last injection (trigger shot) to get your ovaries ready to ovulate.

Approx 36hrs after your trigger, you will be in a hospital gown, being greeted by the specialist who will remove the eggs from your ovaries using a very fine needle, that is inserted vaginally. You can choose to have a sedation or full anaesthetic for this.

After that, you go to recovery, and your eggs are whisked off to the lab where they get to tango with your recipients partner's sperm. It's is the embryo's that are formed in the lab that will then be transferred to your IM after a few days. Then you go on to get AF and hopefully your IM gets her BFP!

Sorry for the novel - I hope that is what you were asking!

[lilipad23]

no -that was great! I want to be well informed before i get someones hopes up about being a possible donor.
If you have time could you please tell me what happens after the eggs are extracted. how long til i can leave the clinic - 1hr etc. And do i continue on with any drugs after that? And can i go off the pill or do i have to stay on it until my IM has a successful transfer.
And what if any are the side effects from the nasal spray and shots? i did read a query about weight???

Thanks for all your help. :thumbsup:
Ann.
xxxxx

[ShadyCharacter]

Sorry for a slight hijack, but I didn't see the point in starting a whole thread with my question, but something I have always wondered.... why do you need to finish having your own family before being an egg donor?

I have often thought I would love to do this, but if I have to be done having a family of my own... well I imagine I will be too old for donating when I am certain I don't want more children of my own :confused:

[FunkyMonkey]

Sorry to butt in here, but is it possible to fall preggers yourself after a donation cycle? Or do they make sure they get all the googies? Or do they advise no BDing during the cycle???

[lilipad23]

hi shady,
i know very little about donating but one thing i do know is there is a slight chance that something could go wrong and you may not be able to have children after donating. i think this is very slim -would have to ask someone who has been through the process- but i guess they want to make sure you know your risks and atleast 'think' you are finished. i am not sure someone young would always 'know' for sure????
You never know what the future holds!
ann. xxx:babydust2:

[lilipad23]

I guess you could get pregnant - unless they give you some kind of injection after they have taken the eggs - i guess maybe no bedding or use a glove, lol??? We will have to wait and see what roxy did.

ann.
xxxx:babydust2:

[Mash]

Ann.. you are at the hospital or day surgery for about 4 hours all up roughly... so about 2 hours after theatre.. You have no drugs after your trigger injection.. the pill should finish after your last period pre pickup ..then you sniff syneral.. and then start the fsh injections... then the trigger 36 hours pre pick up...
Side effects can be things like headaches and hot flushes while sniffing.. and yep bloating when on the fsh drugs..should settle down a little bit after EPU though..
SC- there is a small risk to fertility after an ivf cycle.. it is about 0.5% I think and usually as a result of overstimming and problems associated with that.. which the fertility specialists are fairly careful about anyway..they start very conservatively with dosages of FSH drugs so as not to overstim anyone..
TM- yes after pick up you definately have a time when you are fairly fertile.. so good contraception is advised :yes: You can BD during the cycle but you will be more fertile and have more chance of multiple birth too due to the stimulation drugs..
HTH a bit girls! Keep the questions coming!

Ann I'll leave Roxy to tell you what she did.:laughing: ;)

[kandd]

Hi Lillipad and others,

Me again...

Just very quickly - there is a very slim risk of damage to your own "reproductive system" if you experience over stimulation and it is not treated properly. It is for this reason they prefer that you have finished having your own family.

As for the risk of pregnancy - our donor was advised to take extra care after the process asshe would be very fertile :) .

Lillipad - the reason I referrred to the link in my signature and our story is it decribes the entire donor cycle from both an emotional perspective and what to expect from the medical perspective.

See ya
Diana

[kandd]

Hi Mash :wave:

Looks like we posted at the same time.

Hope you are having a great day...

Diana xx

[allifour]

Thanks for all your info. This helps me alot. I am about to start fsh injections 6/9 - have been reading through this site most faithfully gleaning lots of info.:wave:

[Mash]

Hi Diana and alli..
No probs Alli..ask away if you have any questions..and hi back Diana!:wave: yep having a good day..hope you are too!
xoxo Shel

[lilipad23]

hey everyone thanks for all your helpful advice!!!
It is a whole lot less daunting when you know more about it and dont feel so over whelmed with all those BFN/P this AF this IM this, when you have no clue what some of them stand for,lol.
But i think i have most of them down now!
I would still love to hear from anybody about their experience and any other relative info you might think i should know about it!
Have a great evening everyone!!!
Ann,
xxxx:babydust2:

[Roxy]

why do you need to finish having your own family before being an egg donor?

Hi! As Mash and Diana have mentioned, it is mostly because of the risk of over stimulating. But that risk is less than 1%, and can be easily avoided by ensuring that you keep your water intake up after egg pickup, and by having some protein drinks in the few hours and days after as well.

There is also the emotional issue of how would you feel if your recipients fell pregnant from your donation, and you went on to try and finish your family to find out that you couldn't because you had secondary infertility....it is something that is addressed during counselling, and something certainly worth thinking about.


is it possible to fall preggers yourself after a donation cycle? Or do they make sure they get all the googies? Or do they advise no BDing during the cycle???

It is possible to fall pregnant after a donor cycle - and either abstinence or condoms are strongly recommended if you feel like DTD whilst cycling...

The specialist will do their best to ensure that they empty all the follicles to get all the eggs, but the stim drugs do have the risk of making you extra fertile for a month or 2 after the cycle.


I guess you could get pregnant - unless they give you some kind of injection after they have taken the eggs - i guess maybe no bedding or use a glove, lol??? We will have to wait and see what roxy did.

:laughing: Abstinence! Helped along by the fact that we didn't want to fall pregnant and that my DH was working about 20hr days, 7 days a week at the time! It worked though LMAO!

Alli - fire away with any questions etc that you have...I have tried to make sure that I write as much info as I can in my posts because sometimes people can feel like their question is too silly to ask etc, but it might be answered by a comprehensive post....not long now till you get onto the FSH jabs - you'll feel a whole heap more human when they start!

[allifour]

Hi Roxy, thanks for that. I did not know that you were extra fertile over the next cycles after. I will have to keep my legs crossed!:laughing:
talk soon

:wave:

[ogilberry]

i have donated twice now both times the ladies got twins...one anon through qld fertility centre and the other i chose someone of here and have done semi anon meaning i know her by email but we are not going to keep in touch...

personally i am not sure that i could know the person but that is me personally....i think you need to be totally clear on what you are happy with re donation as is a big issue...

the way i see it is they are really just cells until placed in a womb and put with a sperm. they are wasted each and every month they mean nothing to us...nothing until they are met with the sperm and womb....it is then when they become a baby..but just because you are technically blood related to something doesnt mean that you love it or need to be a part of it....and that is how i deal with the whole thing...

i think if the person was too close to me i would probably look at it differently...

but let me tell you the emails and the words that you receive for doing such a lovely thing is the warmest fuzziest feelings you will ever get....i think most of us are born to want to make a change to someone elses life..what better way than giving someone a child that they could not have without your help

i cannot imagine life without my three children and i also cannot imagine being ripped off in life destined to not have a child because my body wont allow me to....so with your help someone can have a baby....

it is the best gift you will ever give anyone and it will not cost you a cent..happy for you to pm me if you need anything answered

fee