SubscribeH'm, since no donors have replied- I did it three times. I am fascinated by medical stuff and found the process really interesting. I also enjoy giving myself shots. If you have an issue with shots, this may not be your cup of tea. Your experience will vary broadly based on the group you go with.
For my first two donations, I was with a single agency who treated me kindly and respectfully and like a full participant in the process. For my third donation, I felt like I was a horse going on the block. There was a lot of staring at my teeth going on. Be careful about who you end up going with- it will completely have an impact on your overall experience, whether it is positive and an adventure of makes you feel like you're selling something. At points in the third process, I nearly pulled out of my contract because the agency (not the prospective parents) made me feel, literally, like a prostitute.
During the third donation, the doctor involved actually suggested the parents dump me- because I was 25. Despite being a, um, proven great donor with lots of eggs harvested the previous two times, the doctor told the parents to find the youngest donor they could- 17 or 18 if at all possible, which I wasn't aware was legal. If you're older than me, you may have some issues. Or not.
To respond specifically to your questions:
2 No idea about Boston, all of my experiences were on the west coast. If you're an attractive enough donor (in terms of looks, where you go to school, demonstrated accomplishments or IQ, etc) you can get flown in from wherever. Two out of three times I was flown several states away for the donation, and that was fun- they put me up in a very nice hotel with a companion and I got to go on a mini-vacation to a new city.
3 First time donors get much less than repeat donors. For the first donation I got 3k, for each subsequent one I got double that, with my most recent donation being 8.5k. It wasn't a motivating factor for me, either: I did it for the fun. Also, as I said, I'm fascinated by the process, and I'm a vehement advocate for stem cell research, which I see IVF and related technologies as working to advance.
If you're a, uh, especially special donor, you may be offered significantly more for your first donation, but you'd have to be gorgeous (I'm quite good looking) and be at a HUGE name brand school (I'm in grad school at one of the top ten schools in the country) and precisely who they were looking for. A lanky brunette with green eyes, to match the "mother". Many prospective parents are concerned about their kid not looking like them. I'm a mensa member, and I've gotten emails from prospective parents interested in genius-level IQ: if I was willing to prove it with an IQ test (I don't think I'm a genius, but if I was, and I was willing to prove it) they'd pay ~$15k for the procedure.
You see good-looking ads in many school newspapers offering 5-25k for the procedure- it is often, or typically, just to get you into the office, whereupon you'll be informed that you're not "quite" what they were looking for (in my case my hair was a liiiiiitle too auburn) but they do have other prospective recipients they'd LOVE to match you with. Don't make the same mistake I did. They were just looking to build their "book" of prospective donors that people get to look through on the web to make themselves more attractive.
4 I met two out of three of the prospective couples. Again, this will be the horse-selling part of the experience: you've filled out a ten page application, written a few short essays, provided pics (both childhood and adult) and even taken tests (I had to be evaluated by a psychologist as well as take a few standard "are you insane?" tests) and all they have to do is give you a sentence:
The prospective mother is a lawyer who went to USC and the prospective father is in shipping. They have one child.
That is often all you get to know. If they meet you, they may tell you more- I know precisely who the third couple is, though I'd never follow it up with any sort of contact. I wouldn't worry about your prospective offspring getting it on with their offspring. But I would be sure you've educated yourself about the process and READ the CONTRACT.
Central to me is the disposition of the unused embryos created in the process. Consider the following scenario: you're fertile and produce 22 ova, which are duly harvested, combined with Dad's sperm, and 20 eggs are successfully created. 4-6 implanted in pros. Mom and she conceives. You still have another 14 eggs sitting in the cooler. Maybe they want to have the next generation from the eggs they have frozen in the vault, maybe not. What happens to them?
With the donation process, you can be assured of two things: 1, the parents (usually) have enough money to care for a child in a decent way. 2, you've had some opportunity to vet them, or the agency has.
When eggs are "adopted" out, there is no similar process: anyone can adopt them. I HIGHLY encourage you to think about insisting on an addendum that if the eggs are not used by the prospective couple, they either be humanely disposed of or donated to research (the research is really good and really important, but hey, go for humanely disposed of by itself if you'd like)
Also, be clear about your future intentions. Are you going to care if the phone rings in 20 years and someone stammers, "M-mom?" You're not their Mom, but you will be their bio-Mom, and the issue will come up at some point. For me, I have no specific attachment to my genetic material, and consider parenting more about what is done and said to a child than what the origin of their DNA is, but I like interesting people. I'm ok with them choosing to give the kid(s) my contact info, hopefully after warning me ahead of time. But you should think about that.
Also make it SUPER CLEAR that you feel the same way I do about not being attached to the genetic material (in a kinder way, of course) or expect to be turned down as a donor. Nice or not, many prospective parents will get super-anxious at the thought of you reappearing in their lives and trying to take Jake Jr. from them.
5 Speaking of my unborn future children, what are the known risks to my fertility and future health?
Unknown. The industry has decided to limit the # of donations at 6-7, and only greater than 4 if you already have your own family and are not planning to add to it any more. The technology is just too new to have any idea of what might happen, should it be released to the world.
6 Finally, are there obscure things that will disqualify egg donors? My family has no history or genetic diseases or cancer, but my grandparents didn't live to be spectacularly old or anything.
Anything and everything, my friend. Your hair color, height, weight, IQ, even what SCHOOL you attend could disqualify you. You'll likely be screened by a genetic screener and if s/he finds any anomalies, they may test you. If anything at all is discovered altered about you (no matter how common the mutation) you will be rejected. There are plenty of (pardon me) perfect girls out there to get a donation from a known risk.
Finally, I'd be happy to answer any questions you have or have jessamyn pass my contact info on to you, so long as you promise not to publish what I've said anywhere or link it to me in any way at any point. I know it isn't binding, but it is super-important to me that my donations never be linked to me in any way (bad for my career)
Regarding pain during the actual procedure, I have a high pain tolerance and really really wanted to know what was going on, so I convinced the doctors involved in 2 out of 3 donations to give ma a local. I'd describe it as quite uncomfortable, the kind of discomfort that you'd like to squirm away from, but have to stay Quite Still, or else they're going to dose you into La-La land.
Still, that's a pretty low level of discomfort for me. Much less painful then, say, getting your wisdom teeth out, getting stitches, getting a tattoo, getting your finger slammed in a door, getting a root canal, or any more major pain-related events.
I don't think that you should choose not to donate because of fear of pain. I do reiterate that if you fear needles, this is not the project for you. Lots and lots of shots!! (With tiny insulin needles and a couple of big honkers that you have to shove into your own ass)
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Money may not be your primary motivator - and I wish you'd said what your primary motivator actually is - but I'd suggest you think long and hard about whether the money combined with [actual motivation] make up for the tremendous impact - immediate and long-term unknowable - you're going to experience from the quantity of hormones they need to inject egg donors with.
I presume you've looked at the three referenced sources in the wikipedia entry on egg donation, in particular Fertility Stories.
posted by phearlez at 1:29 PM on January 8