Hello everyone!
I haven't posted for a while because I've been busy with my NCLEX exam. I wrote on the 28th of January and found out yesterday that I passed! I am now a full-fledged RN and couldn't be happier to be going back to work. But before that happens, I have another endeavour that I am focusing on. I am donating my eggs.
For the longest time, I wanted to be a surrogate. Long story short, you can't be a surrogate until you've had a child of your own and I am in no rush to do that. So I did my research and decided that egg donation would be a viable option for me. I registered to be an egg donor at the end of February 2015. This involved creating an online profile (almost like a dating site for egg donors) where I would need to include every little detail about myself - interests, hobbies, health history, family health history, favourite movies, foods, music, and photos of myself. The next month, I went to the fertility clinic to have baseline blood work drawn and a psychological assessment to ensure that I would be an appropriate candidate for this. Afterwards, all that was left to do was wait for a match.
It's a match!
Nearly six months later, I received an email from the egg donation agency notifying me that a couple was very interested in having me as their donor and were hoping to receive a response from me ASAP. By this time, everything in my life had changed. I had gone from being a single nursing student to having a serious boyfriend and working as a mental health nurse. It had been so long since I had applied to be an egg donor that I had nearly forgotten about it. Nevertheless, I was thrilled to hear that I had a set of intended parents (IPs) waiting for me and I responded immediately to let them know that I would love to be their donor. A few days after that, I heard from the agency again - another set of IPs decided they wanted to work with me as well. It wasn't long after that, just a few weeks, that I was informed that a third set of IPs were interested in me. I was hesitant to say yes as I hadn't even gone through the first process yet, so I talked to my coordinator at the agency and let them know that yes, I was interested, but it would depend on how my first donation went. I had heard of horror stories of women struggling with the fertility meds and the egg retrieval itself so I was hesitant to say for certain that I would do this.
Time to begin the process...
Finally, last month, my nurse from the clinic contacted me to say that the IPs were ready to begin the process and together we developed a protocol for my donation. It was decided that I would stop taking my birth control pills on January 28th, meaning I would get my period 2-5 days after that. On the second day of my period, I would need to go to the clinic for blood work, an ultrasound and to pick up the fertility meds that I would need to take. I went to the clinic on February 2nd (yesterday). The internal ultrasound wasn't horribly comfortable as the ultrasound tech needed to palpate my abdomen with quite a bit of pressure to manipulate my ovaries to be able to see the right angles on the screen. Keep in mind that I also have my period during this time so I am bloated, sensitive and crampy to start with. My nurse then gave me a pack of gonal-f. In this pack, I received the multi-use vial of gonal-f and the syringes I would need to use to inject myself. I gave myself my first injection this morning on the right side of my belly. It was the first time I had ever given myself an injection so I was a little nervous but I imagine it'll get easier over time. I've already noticed that I feel even more bloated than before my abdomen, especially the right side, is very tender. I'm considering injecting into my thigh tomorrow to see if I find it more comfortable than the abdomen.
The next steps
For the next three days, I will inject myself with the gonal-f and then I will return to the clinic on Sunday morning for a checkup. I will have another internal ultrasound and more bloodwork done and depending on how I am progressing, I may need to increase my dose of gonal-f or even begin taking another medication to stimulate the follicles and aid in maturation of the eggs. I will likely need to return to the clinic again 3-4 days after that and any appointments following that will depend on my progress. It is important that the hormone levels and ultrasounds be monitored very closely to prevent ovarian hyper stimulation syndrome (OHSS). In total, I will be injecting hormones for 11-13 days.
What happens after that?
On the last day of my injections, I will come to the clinic for my egg retrieval. I will be given a mild sedative and then my eggs will be retrieved with a needle. After spending some time in the recovery room, I will be able to go home. I may need to return to the clinic the next day for a followup depending on how the procedure goes. After this, my eggs will be fertilized with with sperm (the father's sperm or possibly a donor's sperm) and the fertilized egg will be implanted into the mother or the surrogate where it will develop into a baby!
So... it's my child?
Well, yes and no. Yes in the sense that 50% of the baby's DNA comes from me; biologicially, it is my offspring. No in the sense that I have no legal rights or responsibilites for the child and I will not be raising it! I'm the first person to say that DNA has nothing to do with making you a parent. Loving, protecting, nurturing and raising a child is what makes you a parent. I am in no way, shape or form the mother of this child. I simply helped to make sure he/she could be conceived. :) I am donating anonymously, meaning the IPs know who I am and what I look like, but I know absolutely nothing about them. In 18 years, if the child chooses, they may try to contact me. I have given my consent to the clinic to give the child my contact info. If and when that happens, I would love to have the opportunity to speak with or meet the child and answer any questions they may have about anything relating to their genetics.
Do I get paid for this?
No. It is illegal in Canada to be paid for reproductive services. However, I am reimbursed for my expenses, such as gas, train tickets, taxis, lost wages, meals on clinic days, etc. I am not required to pay for any of the medications, ultrasounds, blood work, etc.
So is it worth it?
Absolutely. Despite the fact that my egg donation process has only just begun, I can say with 100% confidence that it is worth it. Sure, the injections, blood work and ultrasounds are uncomfortable, the appointments can be inconvenient as I have to travel to another city every time and the hormones make me feel like a beached whale, but I'm not doing this for me. I'm doing this because I want to give a couple the opportunity to have a child, to become parents. If I am able to help this couple welcome a beautiful miracle into their lives, then yes, it is more than worth it.
There you have it! A little synopsis of my life right now as an egg donor. I will be using this blog to document my egg donation process to spare my Facebook friends all of the nitty gritty details. If you have any questions, feel free to leave them in the box below. If you're a Facebook friend, don't hesitate to message me privately if you have questions or are interested in doing this yourself. It's a really interesting process and I'd love to help anyone who is looking to become a donor.
Thanks so much for reading!