It’s been on my bucket list since I was 14 years old. What triggered it for me was an egg donation which happened in my own family. An aunt of mine had been trying to conceive for as long as I can remember and unfortunately could never carry her baby to full term. After numerous miscarriages, IVF treatments and other methods of conceiving my aunt and her husband at the time opted for the help of 1 of her 8 sister’s donating her eggs and a 1st cousin to carry the eggs…9 months later we had a beautiful set of twin girls. Having witnessed such bravery, generosity, love, gratitude (I could go on but you get the gist) I came to the realisation that as a woman I possess such an amazing superpower – to create, carry and birth another living thing! It made me realise that if I could play an instrumental part in sharing that gift with someone who was not as fortunate then, why the hell not!

So fast forward about 11 years later, here I am 26 years old sitting in a London women’s egg clinic, with my legs in stirrups and the gyno doctor poking around my never regions with a camera making sure everything was in tip top shape to share my superpower with other women and families. 

I am currently in the 2nd stage of the donation process. I have made the decision to not tell my family members about my decision to donate and I am in the midst of telling my partner about my decision. We have discussed that one day I want to be a surrogate for someone (after having 1 or 2 of my own children) and when I initially told her she was against the idea of it, however after many discussions and my reasoning behind it she is now open to the idea of me carrying someone else’s child and has been very supportive thus far. However donating eggs is a totally different ball game. Essentially it is your biological child and I know she will find this very difficult to comprehend as she only wants us to bore and raise our children. Thankfully the clinic offer therapy so with the help of the medical staff, I know this experience and journey can only strengthen our relationship.

Donating eggs isn’t for everyone and I would not recommend everyone doing it either. I have to admit, had it not been something that was happening in my own family I most likely would not have even considered doing this and just smiled in awe from a distance at the women who were donating. However this has stopped being a ‘goal’ or ‘dream’ of mine and something I know I am destined to do.

Here are a few things you must definitely consider before thinking about donating your eggs;

*every detail about yourself is 100% confidential and the family (parents) you donate to will not have any way of accessing your information throughout the whole process.
*every child born out of an egg donation has the right to find out who their donor is from their 18th birthday, (you will be contacted beforehand to be informed that the person born from your egg is requesting information about you). 
*it takes about 2/3 months for the whole process to take place (subject to you attending all medical appointments, giving the correct health information required and following the correct procedures leading up to the egg extraction day). 

A few stats & facts on egg donations;

* Egg donation is a form of fertility treatment in which a donor anonymously gives her eggs to an infertile patient in order to help her become a parent. Once donated, the eggs are fertilised with the recipient partner’s sperm (or donor sperm if required) as in conventional IVF, and then transferred to the recipient for pregnancy. Egg donation, therefore, unlike adoption, means that the recipient couple still has a strong genetic link with the child.

* The first known pregnancy derived from a donated egg occurred in 1984. Today, an estimated 10,000 babies a year are born worldwide from the procedure, as demand continues to grow. More and more women are planning their families later in life, with the result that age-related infertility is becoming more and more common. For many of them, egg donation will be the only way they can have children of their own.

Things you must definitely consider before thinking about donating your eggs;

*Make sure you tell someone you are considering donating whether that be a partner, family member, close friend, colleague. It is highly unlikely you will be able to donate if someone in your circle does not know as the doctors want to know you have support before, during and after the process.

*Therapy is offered to all donors and their families/partners. It’s not mandatory but I would recommend going. You may feel prepared and clued up but talking to someone not only gives you reassurance and knowledge on what you are doing but is also a safe environment to discuss your feelings and emotions with an unbiased person.

*Every detail about yourself is 100% confidential and the family (parents) you donate to will not have any way of accessing your information throughout the whole process.

*Every child born out of an egg donation has the right to find out who their donor is from their 18th birthday, (you will be contacted beforehand to be informed that the person born from your egg is requesting information about you).

*It takes about 2/3 months for the whole process to take place (subject to you attending all medical appointments, giving the correct health information required and following the correct procedures leading up to the egg extraction day).