Egg Donation?

Question

Im wondering if anyone knows about egg donation. How much would you be paid? How much pain/recovery time is needed? Would you have to take time off work?

Thank you!

Answer 1

You dont get paid very much. You are legally not allowed to get paid for donating eggs, only for your inconvenience.
You will get paid for your days off work, your travel etc, and around £50 for inconvenience.
You need to take a few days off work, as you have to be treated with hormones to make more than 1 egg grow. It can be quite uncomfortable and make you bloated.

You could come to a private arrangement with a couple who need an egg, and unofficialy get paid for it.

This is in the UK btw

Answer 2

I've gone in to discuss this with the fertility clinic as a potential donor, and have friends who have done this. The plus side is the money. Depending on where you live, you can easily make $6,000 donating eggs. Another benefit is, before they take your eggs, they do a complete system of tests wherein they check for every birth defect that you might carry - that means you get a complete, free health screen.

Now the downside. How it works, is that they need to give you hormones to change your cycle to mirror that of the woman getting the eggs. Any time you start messing with your body that way, it is a risk. Also, you are given increased amounts of hormones so you release more eggs then you normally would. This means that you are EXTREMELY likely to get pregnant if you have intercourse with someone, and you also run the risk of bursting your fallopian tubes because of all the extra eggs coming out (more eggs means more potentially good eggs).

Finally, the painful part. When they take the eggs, it is extremely painful. They scrape them out so it's like taking a razor to your insides. You know how men complain of razor burn, this is the same concept, but MUCH worse. Although the recovery time is only a couple of days. Just feeling like really bad period cramps, nothing you should have to stay home over -- but there is always that risk. Obviously you'll need to take time off work to go get scraped, although some clinics work around your schedule now because the demand his high, donations low.

Then there is the part of knowing there are kids out there that are biologically yours. Some people have an issue with that, although I don't personally know anyone that's been troubled by that.

I ended up not choosing to donate because my financial situation changed, but I know several people who have and they've not had any problems. Just be sure you listen to what the risks are then decide.

Answer 3

As another respondent said, it's a small amount for nominal expenses - around £250 I think. Most egg donation in the UK is done as part of "egg sharing", whereby a couple where the woman has no eggs pays for a couple who need IVF (but can't afford it) to be treated, and the resultant eggs gathered are shared between the two women.

It's a wonderful gesture if undertaken for the right reasons (ie non-commercial ones), but having your eggs "harvested" for donation is not to be undertaken lightly. The procedure itself is moderately painful (and is carried out under anaesthetic), and requires a day or two off work. There is also a risk with the drugs you take of something called "Ovarian HyperStimulation Syndrome" developing which is very painful and potentially life-threatening.

Answer 4

As far as I know you get paid expenses only ie, travel, time off work etc.

It is uncomfortable. You have to have an injection every day for around a month I think. This makes you release more eggs. I have been told it is like having a smear when they harvest the eggs but it goes on for longer and it hurts more.

Not a pleasant experience but if you are serious about doing and not just wanting to make money (cos you wont!) then good on you.

Answer 5

I have donated eggs 3 times now - as for the money side of things I cant help you as Im in Australia and its illegal to accept money or gifts for donation of body parts - although the one true gift I have is a new friend - Im donating to a lady I met a few years ago she cant make her own eggs so I am a known donor - I have done IVF 3 times the first was for myself and I got 32 eggs and they made 14 embryos - I had 2 goes at falling pregnant and was successful the second try we have since tried a couple more times but really we feel happy with our daughter so wont be trying any more - so I donated the 4 remaining embryos to this lady - she didnt fall pregnant so I went through IVF again this time for her we got only 10 eggs and only 2 embryos she wasnt successful this time - my last IVF treatment was about 2 or so months ago they upped the doses of my medications only slightly but this time we got 52 follicles 27 eggs and from this we got 24 embryos.

Pain wise well lets just say I hope your ok with giving yourself injections in the tummy and your ok with several internal ultrasounds as you get many of these - depending on how many follicles you get will depend on how much pain you feel and let me tell you 57 follicles hurts but if your committed to what your doing and the reasons your doing it you dont mind so much - you have the eggs taken out (pickup this is called) under a general anaesthetic so you dont feel this at all you wake up feeling fine unless you do what I did the last go with too many follicles and eggs I hyperstimulated - this made my body act like it was suddenly very pregnant - I was retaining a lot of fluid and within a few days my stomach looked like I looked when I was around 30 weeks pregnant - this is a serious condition which can lead to hospitalisation and even in the worst cases death so quite obviously they dont aim to get as many eggs as I had - I was assessed and advised I was ok and shouldnt need hospitalisation - about 2 weeks later my period came and all the symptoms went away.

As for time off work - you will have a number of appointments you must attend during your treatment so that can interupt work a little however we have our own business so I didnt have to tell the boss anything :) After pickup is done you only need to take that day off to get over the general anaesthetic and thats it you can then go back to work the next day unless you get hyperstimulation and then you are probably off work for about 2 weeks however this condition is fairly uncommon as they monitor you heavily I just over responded to the drugs that round most people take around 2 weeks off when they go for IVF only for privacy and relaxation reasons - some people dont want to talk about the IVF when they are in their 2 week wait to find out if they are pregnant and just want to relax in that time however as your thinking of donating this wont effect you.

Im not sure of the laws etc where you are but here you (and your partner) have to go through some pretty intense counselling they want to make sure you are doing it for the right reasons and that your not likely to back out and want to keep the eggs - they will want to know your history - have you had any kids? Do you have trouble concieving (I did but they had my history so that wasnt an issue as we knew I responded to the IVF drugs) there is heaps they want to know about you and they also want your partners feelings on this - even though they are your eggs your partner is either a potential husband or your husband and he has a say in how he feels about it all.

I hope this helps you :)

Answer 6

Most women donate their eggs to bring happiness to other couples. You want to sell them? There are adverts in magazines asking for egg donars. No price is mentioned but they put you in touch with couples that require eggs and you sort out the fees with them as and when your eggs are suitable for transplant. It's a bit like prostitution really that you are selling something that you have and others want for capital gain.

Answer 7

You need to decide whether or not you can handle giving someone one of your eggs, i.e. one of your potential children and what price you can put on it. To me, any price is not enough. You need to go through series of tests, physical and psychological. Then you would need to have massive dosages of hormones so you can produce more eggs than just 1. They are harvested in a simple out-patient surgery. My friend was a recipient and she was very grateful to the donor. Personally, I wouldn't want to donate. I have found other ways to help people with problems in their lives than giving them my eggs.

Answer 8

i had a friend who did this is arizona and i know she got paid.....quite a bit more than 250.....she had to do the injections and such for quite awhile and was also not allowed to drink and she was on special vitamins. this was about 5 years ago and she did it for the money.....she is on the greedy side so i know she was paid 4 times as much as the other answerers are quoting.

Answer 9

your not meant to be paid for egg donation

Answer 10

I'm afraid I don't know much but in the UK I think it's illegal to offer money for eggs.

I think even if I were desperate for money I couldnt do it. The thought of knowing I had biological children out there.. wondering what they looked like, if they acted like me.... I couldnt bare it.