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Introduction
An egg donor is a motivated, young, healthy woman wishing to help another women towards her dream of having a child. Egg donors are required to be between the age of 18 and 35.
A woman may look for help from an egg donor if she does not produce any eggs herself, or if the eggs she does produce are unlikely to give her a healthy child. This could be due to a variety of reasons such as:
- Premature menopause experienced by young women.
- Ovaries that cannot produce eggs due to the effects of chemotherapy or radiotherapy used to treat cancer.
- Chromosomal abnormalities that could lead to a high risk of having a disabled child.
- Failed treatment of infertility.
These women and their partners are seeking the ultimate gift, the chance to start a family that would not otherwise be possible without donated eggs. There is currently a shortage of egg donors so please get in touch to find out if you can give the gift of life.
Criteria
In order to become an egg donor women are required to:
- be under 36 years of age on the day of egg collection
- be within a healthy weight range with a Body Mass Index (BMI) of ideally less than 30 and no more than 35
- be a non-smoker
- have no personal or family history of inherited illness or disability
- screen negative for certain infections or genetic disorders
- have a good ovarian reserve (assessed by a diagnostic scan)
What is Involved?
Before being accepted as a donor
You will be sent an information video to watch in the comfort of your own home. The video will have information about what the treatment involves and implications of donating your eggs. You will be sent a questionnaire to complete which informs us about your current health, lifestyle and your family medical history up to grandparents on both paternal and maternal sides of your family.
If your questionnaire is satisfactory, an appointment will be arranged for consultation, screening tests and meeting with our independent counsellor. The screening tests results are available within 6 weeks. If the results are normal and you are willing to proceed, the treatment cycle is organised on the dates that are convenient for you.
Donating
Similar to an IVF treatment cycle, you will follow a schedule of daily injections (which you can do yourself, or get your partner or a friend to do) for two to three weeks, to stimulate your ovaries to produce eggs. Over this time you will need to attend the hospital on three or four occasions for blood tests and scans to check how the eggs are developing.
Following ovarian stimulation will have an outpatient egg recovery procedure under sedation which lasts about 30 minutes. You will need to take this day off work and will not be able to drive for 24 hours following the procedure.
HFEA
The Aberdeen Fertility Centre is licensed by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority which sets standards for all UK fertility centres. Please visit www.hfea.gov.uk for further information.
Donation is a generous and positive act and if you decide to become a donor, you will be helping people have children when they otherwise could not. As with other types of donation, motivation to help others in this way is a truly altruistic act and there will be no financial compensation or expenses paid when donating at Aberdeen Fertility Centre in line with the other three NHS Scotland fertility centres. We are asking for your help to support our patients who need donor eggs/sperm and also to support our amazing NHS service.
Donor Information
Egg recipients may be given non-identifying information about their donors if they request it. People born as a result of donation will be able to find out the identity of their donor when they reach the age of 18 if they wish.
As a donor
- You will not be told the identity of the recipients of your eggs
- You have no legal right of access to, or parental or financial responsibility for, any children resulting from your egg donation
- You will be able to find out how many children are born the year of their birth and the sex of the child, as a result of your donation
- You may be contacted in the future by people over the age of 18 born as a result of your donation
- You have a right to withdraw from the donation process at any stage before the embryos created from your eggs are transferred to the recipient.
Contact Us
If you think you could help by becoming an egg donor you can contact us directly at gram.afcdonation@nhs.scot. For additional information regarding egg donation you may find the Seed (sperm, egg and embryo donation) website helpful- seedtrust.org.uk