Many women consider be an egg donor so that others can be mothers. It is an act of voluntary generosity. We tell you what the requirements are, the steps to follow and how the donation is, which will be anonymous, voluntary, informed and unpaid.
Although the donation is unpaid, the egg donor woman receive compensation, by the clinic that accepts your eggs, for expenses incurred while making the donation.
Anonymity and compensation for the egg donor
La law guarantees the confidentiality of data of the donor women ovules. The data protection conditions are established, and the financial compensation that the donor woman receives as a way to compensate for the expenses of transfer, previous treatment and others. But the oocyte donor woman does not have to pay anything. It is the recipient woman who assumes the expenses, including compensation, fertilization, as well as all the equipment used in this technique of Assisted reproduction.
In Spain the sale of eggs is prohibited by the Assisted Reproduction Law. However, financial compensation for egg donation is mandatory, which ranges from between 600 and 1.000 euros. The most frequent egg donation price is greater than 900 euros.
These 900 euros are used to cover travel expenses to the clinic or egg bank, medical tests such as ultrasound, puncture, ovarian stimulation; the time that the donor invests in the entire donation process and to compensate for the possible discomfort and side effects of the hormonal treatment.
Requirements that a woman who wants to donate must meet
The requirements to donate eggs are those indicated by the Spanish Assisted Reproduction Law, By complying with them, it is guaranteed that the children born from the donated oocytes are healthy and without risk of contracting a genetic disease. The egg donor woman has to be in good health, not be a virgin, be of legal age and under 35 years of age. To find out if you are in good health, a medical examination and genetic tests are carried out to rule out certain diseases transmitted between mothers and children.
Other requirements are not having used drugs, not being a smoker. In practice, this point is not evaluated, it is enough to not smoke in the consultation. Not wearing a hormonal IUD intrauterine device. If you use this type of contraceptive, you will have to remove it before starting treatment as it prevents proper ovulation.
You can donate eggs as many times as you want, but it is recommended to wait a minimum of 3 months between donations. The only limitation is that you cannot donate if 6 children have already been born from your eggs, whether they are donations or not.
Egg donation process
Schematically, these are the steps to follow for egg donation:
- Contact the clinic, there they will give you a date so that you come and fill out a questionnaire. It has to be a clinic in the same municipality where you live.
- make a face-to-face interview. It is very simple, a first contact to find out the personal history of the donor. In it they will inform you of all your rights and obligations.
- Pass a medical examination easy. In Spain these tests include: psychological test, DNA and blood analysis, ultrasound, gynecological examination.
- Hormonal treatment ovarian stimulation so that you can produce more mature eggs in your menstrual cycle. It almost always consists of injecting, for 12 days some hormones. Injecting hormones can cause some side effects, such as bloating or mood swings. There is an ideal time to start hormone treatment, it is right after the end of your monthly menstruation.
- Follicular puncture. Once the hormonal treatment is finished and before menstruation, in the clinic, with anesthesia they will carry out the process to extract the eggs. East lasts about 20 minutes, and they usually leave you in the clinic for 2 or 3 hours, until you wake up from the anesthesia. Then you can go home and continue your normal life.
Egg donation very rarely has side effects, but they can happen, the clinic will warn you about them.