The Real Myths About Egg Donation (and Important Truths You Should Know)
If you’re considering donating your eggs, you’ve probably run across articles titled “[#] Myths About Egg Donation!” Often, these articles are written to reassure readers how simple, noble, convenient, and painless egg donation is. And while donating your eggs is a safe, established, and generous process, there’s a lot more nuance to it than some of these articles make it seem.
At SIMPLIFY, we make sure our donors are completely and fully informed about the donation process, what it involves, and what it means for the rest of their lives. With that in mind, we’ve made our own list of egg donation myths, and the real, complex truths that are involved.
Myth #1: Egg Donation is a Super Simple and Painless Process
Truth: Egg donation is a significant medical and life decision.
It IS true that egg donation is a safe and well-tested process. It is also a major decision with long lasting ripples - after all, donating your eggs usually means a whole new life is being made!
There are specific medical requirements involved with egg donation. You’ll have physical and psychological screenings, and must self-inject medications at specific times. The egg retrieval itself is a minor surgical procedure involving anesthesia. You may experience side effects including bloating or abdominal cramps, like when you’re on your period. While most egg donors don’t experience strong pain, there may be discomfort involved, as well as very small risks of more serious side effects.
Beyond that, you also need to be fully aware of what it means to donate your eggs, which is a major decision not to be taken lightly. That’s why we offer counseling to all of our egg donors to make sure they are fully informed and ready for the process.
The takeaway is: donating your eggs is safe, and we’ll work with you to make it as convenient as possible, but it’s important to think it over seriously and be aware of the potential side effects.
Myth #2: Donating Your Eggs Is a Great Money Maker
Truth: Egg donors are compensated, but money can’t be the main motivator.
Egg donors do receive compensation for their time and effort. And if you’re able to use that money to pay off a student loan or save for something important, that’s great! But egg donation is not a get-rich-quick scheme. Because it is such a significant commitment (see Myth #1), compensation packages are designed to be fair, but not so huge that it could affect the donor’s decision-making. In fact, all egg donors are required to be financially stable to make sure they aren’t motivated by financial reasons.
Myth #3: Egg Donors Have No Responsibilities After Donating
Truth: Egg donors continue to have ethical considerations even after the retrieval.
To be clear: as an egg donor, you do not ever have legal, parental rights or responsibilities to any children conceived with the donated eggs. However, that doesn’t mean that egg donors should donate and then forget about the whole process.
The Ethics Committee of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine suggests that egg donors have a responsibility to update their health records if any unexpected inheritable conditions show up in the donor or their family. Similarly, if egg donors plan to have children of their own one day, they should consider if and how they want to tell their children about their past egg donation, especially with the possibility of discovering genetic relatives through at-home DNA testing.
Myth #4: Anonymous Egg Donation Exists
Truth: While egg donors can set guidelines for identifying information, there is no guarantee that a person conceived from your donated eggs can never contact you.
This is such a complex topic, we have a whole other article about it. With the widespread availability and popularity of at-home DNA testing kits, complete anonymity in egg donation is impossible to guarantee. Even if you never use a DNA test, if a close relative does, then the donor-conceived child might be able to identify you.
You can still absolutely set boundaries around sharing identifying information with the egg recipients, or if you are open to contact in the future. If you donate through an agency or egg bank, it is their responsibility to safeguard your information according to your wishes. Just know that any agency advertising complete anonymity is making a promise they cannot guarantee.
Truth: We’re Here to Be Your Resource
Donating your eggs is a complex and important decision - but it doesn’t have to be a difficult process. We are here to answer your questions, provide information, and guide you through your journey. If you’d like to learn more about becoming an egg donor, contact us today.