What is involved in donating eggs?

So You Want to Be an Egg Donor

They will screen you I would guess in some sort of way to make sure you understand what you are getting into. Make sure you are physically and psychologically healthy I would assume. Most likely you will have to do a day 3 blood test, to make sure your hormones are good, and an ultrasound same day to count your follicles.

There are a few ways to do the cycle. Some doctors use birth control pills to quiet your ovaries, some use injections of lupron. The injections are little needles in your tummy or thigh and do not hurt.

Then you will be injecting medication to grow your eggs. They will monitor you by ultrasound to make sure you eggs/follicles are growing.

When the eggs get to a certain size, they take them out using a needle through your vaginal wall into your ovaries.

Make sure you will be out when they retrieve your eggs. Diprovin is a good drug, which means there needs to be an anesthetist present. I did not know this, and they gave me drugs that I was semi-aware, and I am still pissed to this day.

@JLeslie has pretty much covered it. I just wanted to add a couple of things.

There are a lot of shots to give and you may be giving them to yourself. It’s usually easier if a partner can do them for you.

They stop your cycle so they can know exactly when it starts and when it is time to harvest the eggs. They give you a drug that stimulates your ovaries to mature more than one egg at once. Because that’s what makes it worthwhile. They don’t want one at a time.

It will wreak havoc with your emotions.

@JLeslie so you’ve done it? did it wreak havoc with your emotions like @wundayatta said? i don’t like being wreaked.

@deni Don’t go wreaking yourself. It won’t be fun.

@deni I did IVF. I wasn’t crazy emotional. It is worse for the person who is trying to have a baby I think, because there is already a lot of emotions going on anyway. I did gain a few pounds while on the drugs, but I think it was more water than anything else.

I would not say you need a partner to give you the majority of the shots, they are just little needles, like a diabetic needle. I did have to get a couple intramuscular shots the last few days, my husband gave those to me in my butt, but I think those were to prepare my uteris, and you won’t need that, because you are not going to get pregnant, so I am not sure if you will have any of those type of shots at all? You will take a shot class, to learn how to do it. If it freaks you out you can quit. If you are most worried about that, maybe ask to do that right away, to help you make the decision. Honestly, they are not a big deal. It is a little scary at first, but you get the hang of it quickly.

I did mine years ago, so the protocols change, some of my info might be old info, but the basics will be the same.

@JLeslie How long overall did the process take?

@deni If you mean how long from start to finish regarding the drugs, I think around five weeks. If they give you birth control pills, the shots are probably just under 2 weeks. If they give you lupron, the shots will be longer. You can get their medication schedule easily, I am sure they can just fax it to you. You could call a couple of places and see if they will just fax it, or it might be on their website. I can dig out my information if you want me to, I was thinking of doing a cycle a couple of years ago, but it all got screwed up. Long, not fun to discuss, story. Had nothing to do with the process, only to do with my own personal health situation. What I don’t remember is if my info was for my situation only, or explained all of the different protocols. I would have followed for older patients this time, which only grows 3 or 4 eggs usually. Yours would be different. You will most likely produce 10–12.

It was fourteen years ago now, that I did the shot thing for my wife. My recollection is that she was pretty emotional and that I heard others talk about that, too. The shots at the end are testosterone, I think. It may have to do with preparing the uterus. And the shots before that are smaller, and it is true you don’t need a partner to give them. Plenty of women do it on their own. Ask Jill the Tooth. I think she did it on her own.

But it is easier with a partner, especially if you have any kind of needle phobia. It also helps in remembering where the last one went and all kinds of other little details involved in making it as comfortable an experience as possible.

One little note. Apparently if you have polycystic ovaries, you are likely to produce more eggs.

Why do you want to do this? Does it pay? If so, does it pay by the egg?

@wundayatta PCOS women are in more danger of hyperstimuating and producing many more eggs. The thing is I can’t imagine a PCOS woman would be allowed to be an egg donater. This is just a guess on my part, but I would assume a woman needs to be pretty perfect hormonally from scratch, and healthy overall, to be considered.

This doesn’t answer your post, others did it very well already but I want to throw my two cents to the wind and say how angry I am everytime this subject is brought up. I’m taken back to my college years when it seemed like ads were everywhere enticing women to donate eggs for money, playing up to those in need of cash, proposing a sense of selflessness at the expense of their own health.

I don’t really want to do it, I was mostly just curious. I don’t know, I’m really not into anything that is invasive, yes it would be nice to make 5000 dollars for it, but for me it wouldn’t be worth it. I’d feel uncomfortable.

But thanks for your answers guys, they were very informative.

@Neizvestnaya So you think they should not be paid? It should be done for free? I guess bone marrow and kidney is free? Is that right?

@JLeslie: Oh no, I definitely feel the women should be paid! My issue is with the advertising that hits up young women in newspapers and on college campuses as if it’s a way to make some easy money and making it appear it’s natural. There’s nothing natural about being pumped full of hormones. I feel for the people who need eggs to make babies but I don’t like the edge of exploitation towards the donors.

@Neizvestnaya I see. I would assume they get some warning and wavers to sign. But, I find most people don’t think about possible bad side effects about most things, and I would guess doctors don’t really explain what can go wrong? Not sure in this instance. I, actually, am with you on that. I think all too often doctors don’t worry about something going wrong with most things.Ii can tell you so many stories, related to and not related to fertility, that would support my statement, but I won’t bore you. Luckily, the majority of the time nothing dire happens with most routine medical procedures.