Infertility Options – Egg Donation

Of all the emotions surrounding infertility, indifference is not one. The yearning for a child can be so intense, especially as the number of treatments you have tried increases.  Diet and exercise changes, check. Intrauterine insemination, check. In vitro fertilization, check. And yet, no baby. If you have been wondering about egg donation as an option for growing your family read on to learn about the process that is gaining traction among couples who have not been successful with other methods.

Coming to Terms

Couples who are going through infertility frequently report feeling anxiety, frustration, and even bitterness at the hardship of wanting a baby so badly while others seem to conceive with no effort whatsoever. Trying a donor egg to get pregnant has the potential to alleviate these feelings, but the idea of a donor egg might bring up new questions. Will it matter to you that the baby will not share your genetics, even if he or she shares dad’s? Is it more important that the baby’s eyes look like yours, or that you have a baby into whose eyes you can gaze?  Will you need to tell people about the origins of the baby’s conception? Or will you shout from the rooftops about the miracle that was granted to you?

If the desire to nurture a baby in your womb is greater than the necessity of a genetic link, then egg donation might be a solution to your infertility.

Choosing a Donor

Whether the egg donor is a friend, family member or stranger, she is giving an amazing gift to couples who wish more than anything to start or complete their family. That said, it’s imperative to make sure that the donor has undergone medical, genetic and psychological screening.  Using an online egg donor database means that this screening will already be done for you. If you select a friend or family member, you will need to arrange to have her screening done.  When choosing a donor, some characteristics that many consider important the donor’s education, ethnicity, favorite activities, and physical appearance.

Fresh or Frozen Eggs

If you are choosing a donor from an online database, there are two different types of donation: fresh and frozen eggs.  Although the idea of freezing eggs might initially sound scientifically worrisome, the technology has improved such that the success rates for using frozen donor eggs and fresh donor eggs are quite similar. One advantage of using frozen eggs is that the eggs have already been retrieved, and you will know in advance how many eggs you will receive. Once you have selected the donor, the eggs can be shipped to your clinic very quickly and are ready to be thawed and implanted when you are at the right place in your monthly cycle.

If you are using a donor whose eggs have not yet been retrieved (aka a fresh donor), there are some extra steps involved.  Both you and the donor will take medicines that synchronize your menstrual cycles, while the donor takes additional medications that encourage her body to produce more mature eggs to be retrieved.

Next step: Just like IVF

Whether you are using fresh or frozen donor eggs, the next step is for the fertility clinic to fertilize them.  For some families, using the father’s sperm is an excellent way to provide a sense of connection to the baby. For others, using a sperm donor may be more likely to generate a successful pregnancy.  After fertilization, the eggs take a few days to grow into embryos that are ready for implantation.  The doctor will insert the embryos into the mother’s uterus. The mother will take medications prior to the procedure to prepare her body to accept the embryos in hopes that they will implant.

The Waiting Game

If you have experienced infertility, then you will already be familiar with the mixture of hope and anxiety that the few days after implantation will bring. Will this be the procedure that finally ends with a positive pregnancy test? Will you finally be the one who gets to come up with a clever pregnancy announcement or gender reveal?

More importantly, how will you want to decorate the nursery? Because, after all, that’s where you’ll get to spend so much time rocking and feeding the little one you have dreamt of for so long.

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Girl on Fire

Photographer at Loudmouth Photography

Brandy is the wife to a carpenter/musician and the mother of 3 amazingly awesome homeschool/unschooled girls. Brandy is a Photographer as well as a Coach for the Weebellion as part of Rolling Rebellion Jr. Roller Derby. Brandy is passionate about many things and suffers from a very painful and degenerative neurological disease called CRPS/RSD.

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