Egg donation is a hot topic these days – and no, I do not mean donating a dozen chicken eggs to a food bank. I am talking the eggs out of a woman’s womb.
Nowadays, more and more women are spending more time becoming educated and focusing on their career rather than getting married and having a family right out of high school and/or college. However, once some of these women decide that they are finally at a point in their life to get married and have children, their biological clock has already slowed the ticking. For these women and others who have infertility issues, not being able to conceive a child can be disheartening and she may feel like a failure. Especially as our society dictates that having children is still the norm (although now it’s fewer is better). Luckily, great advancement in reproductive technology and infertility treatments provide many of these women the opportunity to have a family of their own, albeit in the non-traditional form. Adoption, IVF, and surrogates have become the rage these days in the reproductive world!
One other route that some women who can’t produce their own eggs are taking is through egg donations. Now, I use the term donation here very loosely because the egg donors are compensated for their “dedication, time, effort, and discomfort,” as one agency puts it. What is the price that one pays for someone’s eggs? For some places and people, the price increases with education, intelligence and good looks. Diane Sawyer did a piece on egg donors, citing that some parents were willing to pay upwards of $25,000+ for eggs that meet a certain criteria. $25k??? Seriously, whoa!! That’s like, a looooot of money. One chick who donated six cycles said she was “compensated” almost $100k for everything. OMG!
I bet some women out there are thinking, “Where do I sign up??” It sounds so easy peasy. But getting that much money is very rarely. I guess the average is around $5,000 a cycle and anymore than $10k is considered inappropriate.
Now, I saw the clip above and any real data on compensation AFTER I considered donating my eggs. Yes, if you didn’t get from the title of this blog post, I am considering donating my eggs. WHY? Well, the money would help of course, but the main reason is being able to help another couple live their dream of having a family. Being able to put a smile on some woman’s face because I had some part in her having a daughter or son puts a smile on my face. And I am not sure if it is possibly, but my womb is smiling and the mere thought of it as well. Seriously, if a womb could smile, it would be doing that.
Since I live in a small area outside of a big city, the compensation really isn’t that much. Only about $3,5000. And that is before taxes mind you. So if I go through with this, it really isn’t about the money. And I am perfectly fine with that. Because I don’t want it to be about the money. Yes, it would be nice to pay off that credit card a bit sooner, but that is going to happen regardless. So my reasons for this is mostly for selfless reasons.
Right now, I am in the process of completing three very long-ass applications. I will go into more detail on everything in another post, but I am still a bit wishy washy on whether I really am going to go through with it or not. Since egg donation is relatively new, there has not been a lot of research on the long-term effects. And I would like to have children of my own someday. Of the research that does exist, it shows that only a very small percentage of women were not able to have children of their own or had some other negative effects.
Hmmm… so much to think about.