Donating eggs is a relatively easy process. To make sure you qualify to become an egg donor in San Diego, you have to undergo different tests, both psychological and medical. After that, you’ll have to be injected with some medications to prepare for the last step, the procedure to retrieve the egg itself. In most cases, women have two main motivations for donating their eggs.
First, there’s the financial reason. The first donation will earn you between $5,000 to $15,0000. Moreover, with each subsequent donation you could earn up to $12,000. In fact, in the rare case where your qualities are outstanding, the compensation can go even higher. All in all, repeated donations seem pretty rewarding from a financial standpoint.
Second, there’s the emotional aspect. You might feel better knowing that you helped a couple grow or start a family. Although this might sound like a cliché, it is nonetheless fulfilling. Or maybe you are just a person who wants to help the world, and donating eggs is your way of doing it. In fact, altruism is cited as being a stronger factor than money.
How Many Times Can Be an Egg Donor?
The majority of egg donor agencies allow donors to donate up to six times, as they follow the guidelines established by the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM). Until now, there are have been no known side effects to donating more than this. However, there are a few reasons.
First, there is no information on the long-term side-effects of the hormones you are treated with. To ensure the safety of the donor, most egg donor agencies refrain from exposing the donor to excessive hormone treatments. Fortunately, many donors claim that they felt no long-term side-effects up to their sixth and final donation.
Second, the limit also makes sure that there aren’t too many half-siblings out there. No policy can force parents to tell their children of their “donated origin.” As a result, it is hard to keep track of all the children conceived with the help of one donor. So the limit decreases the odds of such children meeting up. In fact, a donor is allowed to reach this limit at one agency, and then do the same at another. The ASRM states that a donor should be limited to 25 live births if the population area is 850,000.
Two regular menstrual cycles need to take place between each donation cycle. Essentially, the donor should expect their period in the next days after the donation. Their body will return to normal after the next menstrual cycle is over.
There are also the aforementioned medical concerns. Usually, an agency’s team will assess if the hormone therapy had any negative effects on the donor. If that is the case, and the woman had a negative reaction to her medications the first time, she should proceed with caution.
Donating eggs sure seems fulfilling to many women, emotionally or otherwise. However, there are only so many times they can do it. What’s important is that this limit is only there to ensure that both the donor and the child are safe and sound. Ultimately, one egg donation is a great gift per se, let alone six.