Getting or staying pregnant isn’t easy for everyone. For many people across Colorado and the U.S., the road to having a family starts with a known or anonymous unidentified egg donor helping them have a family.
Unfortunately, there’s a shortage of women aged 21-33 who are willing to be egg donors. If you’ve been thinking about becoming an egg donor, we need your help! Thinking about helping another woman become a mother or helping a man become a father? Get the answers you need about becoming an egg donor today. Learn more about the criteria and compensation for egg donors at www.colorado-eggdonation.com.
The team at Colorado Egg Donation sat down with Dr. Althea O’Shaughnessy from Conceptions Reproductive Associates of Colorado to talk about the process of becoming an egg donor. “The gift that an egg donor provides to someone struggling with infertility is priceless. While donors are compensated for their time, again and again, we see donors are mostly driven by a sense of altruism, empowerment, and compassion. They are very special people and very necessary to success,” shared Dr. O’Shaughnessy.
As most women get older, both egg quantity and quality start to decline dramatically, making the need for an egg donor more urgent. At birth, women have about 1 million or more oocytes or eggs in their reserve. But by the time they reach their peak fertility years, the number of eggs has declined to 50,000 or less. For women in their late 30’s and early 40’s often the best way to get pregnant and have a family is through a combination of In vitro fertilization (IVF) with egg donation.
Dr. O’Shaughnessy who has over 20 years of working with egg donors and intended parents, talked more about the connection between egg quantity and egg quality, “Younger eggs are of higher quality and give us a better chance of success. As we age, eggs or oocytes are at an increased risk for chromosomal abnormalities too. Patients who need the help of a donor are fighting two issues – fewer eggs and lower genetic quality.”
Becoming an egg donor requires time, selflessness, and a personal commitment to help build a family. With that in mind, donors are treated in a safe and successful setting at Conceptions and Dr. O’Shaughnessy explained more,
“At Conceptions, we have a rigorous health screening process, we owe it to our donors and our intended parents to make it as safe and successful as possible using ASRM guidelines. Our IVF success rates using donor egg meet or exceed U.S. benchmarks.”
Tweet
At Conceptions, nearly three out of four of egg donors go on to donate multiple times, highlighting the level of care and attention provided to them. In fact, most donors donate three times, and many donate the maximum of six times at Conceptions.
While the egg donation process is very safe and well-studied, potential donors should also look at where they are donating, as not all IVF centers are the same and often have the same chance of success. Dr. O’Shaughnessy offered more insight on how where you donate your eggs can have an impact, “While using younger eggs improves our chance of success, how those eggs are handled, how good the IVF lab is where those eggs are fertilized, and what kind of IVF paradigm is used is critical to success too.”
By becoming an egg donor, you can change a life. You can help someone become a mother or a father. Dr. O’Shaughnessy reflected on a recent intended parent, a single male looking to build a family. “He came to us from another IVF center where he failed an egg donor cycle. None of the donor eggs fertilized and he was told it was his sperm. We ran a work-up and his sperm was normal for his age. We proceeded with matching him with a donor and surrogate and he’s now a loving Dad. That egg donor changed his life, he’s forever grateful.”
While egg donation has been around for decades as a part of IVF, there are still some misconceptions that many potential donors that prevent them from donating, “It’s funny but many times donors will say to the nurse in the OR after they are retrieved, I thought it would be harder or more complex. It’s not for everyone to be clear, but we have it down at Conceptions to maximize safety and convenience for our egg donors. They are treated with the same level of respect and compassion that drives them to be donors in the first place,” added Dr. O’Shaughnessy.
Thinking about helping another woman become a mother or helping a man become a father? Get the answers you need about becoming an egg donor today. Learn more about the criteria and compensation for egg donors at www.colorado-eggdonation.com.
Colorado Egg Donation is the egg donation team at Conceptions Reproductive Associates of Colorado. To learn more about Dr. O’Shaughnessy and Conceptions visit www.conceptionsrepro.com.
