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Donating eggs

Posted 09/19/2013
Hi ladies,
I have a tough question and I thought you guys would be the best to answer it. My sister and bil have gone through 3 or 4 ivfs and like 6 iui's. My sister has had 2 chemical pregnancies. They have tried using donor sperm. Now their doc is suggesting a donor egg also. It costs a lot of $ to do all of this any they are already out tens of thousands of dollars. Adoption is expensive. I asked my sister if I could donate my eggs to her. She said there are hormone I injections I'd have to take and make my body produce like 10 eggs at once. This seems so dangerous to me. I want to help my sister, but can't imagine doing something that could cause cancer in the long run. I also want more children. She said it wouldn't impact that. I'm so nervous. I can't do anything until I'm done bfing, buti want to keep bfing until dd is 2. Does anyone know anything about egg donation? Risks?

Comments (8)

Last edited 09/19/2013

Hi I don't know about egg donation but like your sister I have done several rounds of IVF and the same injections your sister and I have done would be the injections you would go through.

I had the same concerns you did especially after a co-worker told me how she went through 10 rounds of IVF treatments , didn't get pregnant and then had to have a hysterectomy!

I talked to my RE and did a bunch of Googling.  

What I have found is woman who have had children have a decrease risk for breast and ovarian cancer. Woman who have taken fertility drugs and NEVER gotten pregnant do have an increased risk. Women who have taken fertility drugs AND gotten pregnant and gave birth has a decreased risk.

Something I think should be pointed out is studies like these aren't always solid because they can't be completely controlled. 

I think if you are concerned about cancer you should talk to your doctor and your RE.  I think there are more factors than just these drugs to consider such as your family history.

At the end of the day I think you should do what you feel is best for yourself.

Best of luck to you!


Happily married to my best friend of 10 years (since Nov 22, 2008) 

Baby Lost:  March 21, 2012 and  Nov 12, 2012.

Posted 09/19/2013

10 eggs at once is not really dangerous, think more like 20 or 30, and the older you are the less eggs you're likely to produce. Something else I want to add is that some infertility disorders deal with a hormonal imbalance that in and of itself can increase your risk of certain cancers due to long-term overexposure to estrogen, etc. And no, it shouldn't affect your future fertility. Every month your body recruits a bunch of egg-containing follicles, maybe 10-20, but your body releases only 1 or 2. The rest are still gone. The drugs just grow all of them at once. Though I do understand about how you feel with regards to bf'ing. I'm going for my first IVF soon and I'm very torn between gving my child a sibling or letting them self-wean. So even though I know how infertility feels, I say you shouldn't do it until you're done bf'ing if that's important to you. In the meantime, maybe your sister can look into what is called a shared cycle? 

Posted 09/19/2013
Thanks for the comments.

Inewport- It helps to hear from someone going through the IVF process. I keep praying that God shows me what I should do. I'm so worried about cancer. I'm glad there's a decreased risk, but I have gone to high school with a boy whose mom had to use fertility drugs to get pregnant and she ended up with cancer and dying when he was in highschool. I also know a girl who has breast cancer right now (stage 4). She has a 5 yr old and 1 yr old. I want to help my sister, but I'm so concerned about my own children possibly not having a mommy.
Posted 09/19/2013


Adoption is expensive but there are other routes with adoption that isn't as costly.  

My MIL adopted two girls she foster and I don't think it was a costly.  There are also finance plans for adoption.   Adoption prices can vary depending on HOW you adopt.  Some agency costs around $12k for example because you are paying the agency and the lawyers. 

She may want to look into open adoption which may only cost lawyer fees.  You check out open adoption for example.  I *THINK* these sort of are must less expense .





Posted 09/20/2013
A Swedish study of 25,000 women who had IVF compared to 1.4 million who had not showed that women who went through IVF had a reduced risk of both cervical and breast cancer.

Also, reproductive technology changes quickly. Friends of mine who went through IVF 5-8 years before I did were given a lot more drugs than I was - for instance they were pumped full of steroids to the point of suffering from "'roid rage". So who knows what your high school friend's mom went through or whether it was even connected to her cancer.

The process wasn't bad - I had no side effects from the meds with the exception of the birth control pills at the start of the cycle (and they lowered the dose which solved the problem). The surgery was quick and painless (it's done under anesthesia) and there was only mild discomfort for a few days after.

Aside from health concerns though, there are a lot of issues to consider in non-anonymous egg donation. Follow your heart and don't feel guilty if it doesn't feel right to you and you don't want to do it :-)

Me: 43 DH: 59 
(First time parents)
EBF, BW, AP, Vaxing
( . )Y( . ) Gold

Posted 09/23/2013

I have donated eggs in the past and now have two children. While going through the process, everything was monitored closely. To be honest, it was more a pain than anything else. I had to show up at the doctor's office to get blood drawn (almost every day towards the end) and I had to give myself small injections (which was easy after doing it the first time). It's a lot of effort, and because of that (and because there is a surgery at the end) I made thousands of dollars.



   Isaac Stanley - 07.27.10
   Luke Michael - 07.02.12
   Baby girl wanted   : )

Posted 09/23/2013
I did IVF. The egg retrieval procedure was incredibly painful and I got OHSS the first time. There absolutely are risks to your health, so do your research and talk to an RE about it beforehand. I'd be happy to give you more details if you'd was worth it for us to have our children, but it really was a terrible process to go through. Probably not that bad for everyone, but there certainly are real possible acute risks!
Posted 09/23/2013
One quick suggestion for your sister- since they are already not using his sperm and will possibly not even use her eggs, has she thought about embryo adoption? Then she would still be able to experience carrying a child.

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