Has anyone been an egg donor?

[isaidno]

My cousin has been having fertility treatment, but the eggs and embryos she had saved have all died.

She had treatment for cancer so it is unlikely she can get pregnant unassisted.

Been thinking about egg donation, but I don't want to mention it to her and put her hopes up if I can't do it / decide i don't want to do it.

Any wise words?

I've always thought about this and how great it would be to give someone a chance of having their own baby. Prehaps something I will look into in more detail in the future. Sorry not much else to advise apart from it's your decision and if you decided not to go ahead then don't feel guilty. Sorry I'm not much help but maybe another MN has more experience.....?

Thanks Haribosmum.

Bump for the evening crowd

I donated for my sister a few years ago. Clinics prefer you to be under 35yrs old as a maximum and have a proven track record - ie have had a pregnancy of your own already. I have to say that the process wasn't really that difficult at all, I just had to get over the fact that I had to inject myself daily. Myself and dh spoke at length about the possibility of me donating first and the clinic had us go for counselling beforehand to ensure we were ok with it. DH was initially concerned about it but as I said, I was losing an egg every month 'down the toilet' so to speak, so the egg would be better off being used. That seemed to sell it for him.
If I remember correctly, you start by suppressing your system and for this I had to take meds via a sniffer twice daily for a week or more. You then enter the stimulation phase where you have to encouage the ripening of your eggs for which I injected myself. You are scanned to monitor this progress and they alter the meds accordingly. The doctors retrieved a great crop of eggs from me but unfortunately it didn't work for my sis - it transpires that she had other related gynae issues that probably prevented implantation. I'm considered too old now to give it another go but would have tried again for them if it would have helped.

There is a slight risk of you being overstimulated which can lead to hyperstimulation syndrome but because you are monitored/scanned very regularly, this possibility is small.

Good luck in whatever decision you make.

Thanks Summer111 - i think I maybe getting too old - I am 33 now, and selfishly speaking we want to ttc number 3 in the next 12 mths.

I will see my cousin at a family christening at the end of the month so I think I will chat to her to find out if docs have mentioned egg donation as a possibility.

The last thing I want to do is casually suggest it, get her hopes up, only to let her down.