Welcome Carrot Fertility Members. Family Inceptions is now part of the Carrot Fertility Network. Click to read more.
Welcome Carrot Fertility Members. Family Inceptions is now part of the Carrot Fertility Network. Click to read more.

Should I Use an Egg Donor?

Perhaps you have been trying for sometime to conceive without any success. You have spoken with your specialist and the consensus is that in order to have a family you will need to use an egg donor. To know that egg donation is an option to growing your family can give you some peace of mind. However, the process is emotionally complex. It is normal to feel overwhelmed, anxious, scared and yes, even angry. There is a grieving process involved with letting go of a genetic connection to your child. For some women the process can be quite lengthy and may require therapy in order to work out all your emotions. The egg donation process will most certainly be one of the most important decisions for the future parents.

The most important decision you will make as prospective parents will be selecting a clinic for treatment. The clinic must make you feel respected and cared for and the physician must be compassionate and caring. Knowing the right questions to ask can aid you in your decision. A great resource for your use is PVED (Parents Via Egg Donation) which gives you a comprehensive list of the right questions to ask to insure you receive the best treatment. Finding a reputable egg donor agency is also extremely essential. The clinics themselves often do not have a large egg donor database from which to choose your egg donor. This is where an agency will come into play. Keep in mind not all egg donor agencies are alike. You are in control of the donation process from start to finish. Read your contract carefully and be sure to get absolutely everything in writing.

For the egg donor the process starts with an application. Once approved, the donor will be matched with a recipient. The egg donation process takes generally 3 – 4 weeks. In the past, fresh eggs have been used over frozen eggs, but due to advances frozen eggs are beginning to see a surge. The difference is a fresh egg donor cycle is with a live donor that will have been chosen just for you and with a frozen egg donor cycle, you receive a large number of eggs that are not embryos, meaning they have not been fertilized. These eggs will be given to different recipient parents.

In general egg donors receive $8,000 for their first donation and $10,000 for any that follow. Full payment is not given until the egg retrieval is complete. Now as for the average cost of a donor egg baby it can range from $37,000 to $65,000 and that depends on medical fees and services provided. Included are the donor fees, agency fees, travel, IVF and fertility treatments and legal costs.

It is normal for recipient parents to wonder if they will love and feel emotionally attached to a child that has no genetic connection to them. Just by asking these questions, you are already becoming a parent to an egg donor baby. Remember the egg donor only wants to help couples have a family. Once you have made the decision for egg donation, the possibility of that child now exists. Without you there would be no child.

The decision to conceive a child through egg donation is a difficult one. Your need to have a child and of course all that you have experienced on that journey will affect this decision. Believe in all the instincts you are feeling and have confidence that you will have affection for this child. With the help of an egg donor you will watch with wonder and love as your child grows and flourishes.

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