Becoming an egg donor allows you to make a huge difference in the life of someone else. Egg donation involves giving the gift of parenthood to a couple that would otherwise be unable to have children. However, the whole egg donation process is surrounded by an abundance of myths. These myths leaves many women wondering just how safe it is. Let’s talk about what the process involves and see how these myths stack up against the facts.
What is Egg Donation?
By the time a girl reaches puberty and menstruation begins, her ovaries contain about 400,000 immature eggs. Each month during menstruation, 15-20 of those eggs mature, and one of those eggs is released into the fallopian tube. The rest simply die off and are disposed of by the body. Egg donation is a process that allows a woman to give a few of those eggs, which would otherwise go unused, to a couple that is unable to bear children without medical intervention.
What is the Process?
When you begin the process of egg donation, you will go through psychological, medical and genetic screening. This initial process not only ensures that your eggs are suitable for donation, but it also ensures that the donation process will go as smoothly for you as possible. Once you’ve cleared the various screenings, you are ready to begin the first phase of the procedure. At this time, you’ll receive hormones that will stimulate your ovaries to produce and mature multiple eggs. Once the eggs are mature, you’re ready for the egg retrieval procedure. This procedure typically takes 20-30 minutes, and you’ll be under light sedation. Over the next 7-10 days, your ovaries will return to normal size and your hormone levels will return to their normal balance.
Will Egg Donation Impact Future Fertility?
Obviously, surrogacy and egg donation are wonderful, selfless services that allow you to change the life of a couple struggling with infertility. However, many women wonder how egg donation may affect their future fertility. Some even wonder if they have enough eggs to donate, or if the process will leave them with a shortage of eggs that would prevent them from having children of their own later in life.
During a menstrual cycle, only one egg is released, but 15-20 eggs mature. During the egg donation process, the medication causes all of the eggs that are naturally available during that cycle to develop and be released. The only eggs that are retrieved are the ones that you naturally produce.
Some women worry about how egg donation will affect their life and future fertility. Egg donation does not:
Cause your body to stop producing eggs
Require that you take an extended period of time off of work or school
Make you sick
Involve a painful retrieval procedure
Cause ovarian cancer
Are you ready to make parenthood possible for a couple who’s is wanting to build a family? Interested in learning more about the egg donation process? Please find us online or give us a call toll free at 1-866-41-SURRO or 214-673-9321.
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