Would you donate your eggs to an infertile couple?

One in six UK couples has problems conceiving, and the waiting lists for egg donors are often years long.

For some couples, having eggs donated is their only hope of achieving pregnancy and ultimately a family.

Those who come forward and donate their eggs give women and their partners the chance to have the family they otherwise would only have dreamed of.

Donors need to be women aged 18-35, with a healthy medical record and no family history of genetic or inheritable disease.

One such donor is Cathy Sidaway, a 29-year-old Business Development Manager from York. This is her story.

Choosing to become an egg donor

Cathy (pictured) says, 'I like to get involved and make a difference if I can. I've given blood and been on the bone marrow list for years. But I'd never given any thought to being an egg donor - until I spotted an advert in a newspaper supplement one sunny bank holiday.

'I immediately thought 'I can help this couple'. Two years on, I've donated to two couples and am about to help my third.

'I've seen friends and family suffer terrible heartbreak with their journeys to have chldren. One friend has suffered multiple miscarriages and my cousin was infertile for many years with endometriosis.

'I remember feeling frustrated and upset that there was nothing I could do to help either of them and being exposed to their pain and desperation for a child really stayed with me.

'When I became involved with egg donation, I read a lot of information on the National Gamete Donation Trust website which was invaluable.

'A particular support was the Yahoo forum group set up for people who already had, or were taking an interest in, donating eggs and sperm.'

Medical Tests

'To become an egg donor, you have to go through some pretty thorough medical screening. Most of it involved blood tests that screened for diseases that could be passed onto a baby or the recipient, like hepatitis, CMV and cystic fibrosis.

'The other part of the medical screening is to check that everything looks as it should with my uterus and ovaries, and this involves an ultrasound scan.

'I've never been bothered about smear tests or a trip to the colposcomy clinic, so the process of being scanned internally didn't feel like unfamiliar territory. It wasn't painful and the doctor was very thorough in explaining everything.

'What I hadn't considered beforehand was the peace of mind that going through fertility screening tests would give me. I'm not yet ready to have my own child,  but having seen family and friends with fertility problems, it was a relief to be able to rule out some worries that had been at the back of my mind.

'Something that surprised me about both clinics I worked with, is that once I'd shown interest in being an egg donor, I wasn't immediately bombarded by someone with a clipboard and pen, trying to get me to sign my eggs away before I changed my mind!

'Both clinics invested a lot of time into ensuring I was fully informed and completely happy with my decision to donate, and I felt I could back out at any time if I decided it wasn't for me. There was no pressure but a lot of support.'

The first course of treatment

'I first got involved with donating my eggs after seeing an advert in a Sunday supplement. I contacted Guys and St Thomas', the London clinic the couple seeking eggs were using.

'I saw the egg coordinator, the fertility counsellor and started the medical screening. The clinic explained that any travel, childcare or expenses from taking time off work were reimbursable, and staff were often considerate in doubling up the appointments, to limit the amount of travelling I had to do.

'I shared my thoughts about egg donation with family, friends and colleagues, most of whom knew as little about the subject as I had. Once they understood what was involved, the medical process and felt satisfied I'd explored all the risks, everyone was very supportive and encouraging.

'The treatment for egg donation can be split into two parts: suppressing ovaries, followed by over-stimulating them.

'To suppress my ovaries from working as they usually would do, I used a nasal spray twice a day. It was a little strange at first but didn't bother me after that.

'There were no side effects and the spray was small enough that I could easily carry it in my handbag.

'The second time I donated eggs, I was able to have a one-off injection to suppress my ovaries so the nasal spray wasn't required; different clinics work in different ways and there isn't one set way for treatment to be carried out.

'Once ovary suppression had been going on for two weeks, I was then ready to start stimulating my ovaries with daily injections.'

Counselling - and injections

'It took around nine months from the point of contacting the clinic for the first time to having my menstrual cycle synchronised with my first couple and being ready for treatment.

'I'd had two sessions of fertility counselling organised by the clinic. It was very helpful in challenging me to think of the whole egg donation process and its implications.

'I'm single and in my mid-20s, so the counsellor asked how I would tackle speaking with my future children about the fact they could have a half-sibling somewhere. We also talked over what future partners might think about it.

'The discussion provided me with a lot of food for thought and I made sure I knew how I felt about these issues before I was absolutely certain I would donate my eggs.

'We also talked through the change in the law which means a child has the right to information about their sperm or egg donor once they reach the age of 18. It was difficult to decide what to write on a form that a potential child would have access to in 18 years' time.

'Once everything was ready, it was time for the ovary stimulation treatment - daily injections.

'This was the part of the treatment I was least comfortable with: I HATE injections. It helped a lot when the clinic showed me the self-injecting kit I'd use, which came in a handy little thermal rucksack.

'I'd imagined a big syringe with liquid squirting out of the top, but in fact the kit included a pen similar to that used by diabetics. It was more like holding a pen against my lower tummy and pressing a button - easy peasy!

'The injections weren't painful and I felt a real sense of satisfaction that I'd been able to cope with injecting myself so easily.'

Egg collection

'During the 13-day period while I was having my daily injections, I went to the clinics for scans to ensure the eggs were growing as they should be and that I wasn't at risk of over-stimulating them.

'All the scans showed my ovaries were stimulated just right and the eggs were maturing well. It was really exciting having the fertility consultant count the number of eggs in each ovary and mark which ones were which size.

'I'd been warned of possible side-effects from the stimulation drugs - hot flushes, feeling bloated, overly emotional or PMT type symptoms. I think I got off pretty lightly.

'For the first week, I felt completely normal. In the second week, there was only one episode when I thought I'd run out of medication to inject so I called the nurses' line. When no one picked up I burst into tears and felt like it was the end of the world! Then I realised it was probably my hormones making me very sensitive and the nurse returned my call when she could.

'By the day of egg collection, I felt pretty bloated. I'd taken to wearing baggy tops and loose trousers - this was probably what it felt like to be pregnant.

'On the actual day they harvested my eggs I wasn't allowed to eat anything because I would have heavy sedation for the operation.

'At the hospital a host of people came to speak to me, including the doctor, the embryologist, the nurse who'd been scanning me, and the anaesthetist. I was given heavy sedation and the next thing I remember is coming round in a different room and feeling very drowsy.

'Within a few minutes, the drowsiness had lifted and I felt fine, a little tender but in no pain. The doctor explained they'd collected 14 eggs - a good result, so I was very pleased.

'Egg collection was the only day I took off work, so a friend took me home at around lunchtime and I put my feet up for the rest of the day. The next day I was back at work and felt fine.

'I felt pleased that for such a relatively small effort I'd given hope to a couple who'd longed for a child for many years.'

Awaiting the results

'I was interested in what would happen to my eggs once I'd donated them. The recipient couple go the client around the same time as egg collection takes place and a fresh sperm sample is provided. The clinic is careful to ensure that an anonymous donor never ends up accidentally bumping into the recipient couple in the waiting room.

'Once eggs and sperm have been collected, IVF or ICSI is used to create embryos, which are then left to their cell multiplication. If the cells multiply enough, then the embryos are transplanted in the female recipient after around three days.

'When I donated eggs to a couple I knew, it was an anxious time waiting to hear how the embryos were developing, so I was very disappointed when there were only two viable embryos for transfer, and no pregnancy resulted.

'The first couple I donated to were anonymous to me, but legally I had the right to know how many pregnancies had resulted, the number of births and the gender of the children.

'I learned that this couple ran into health difficulties around the time of egg collection and had two embryos transferred unsuccessfully. They then left a gap before transferring any more.

'I often wonder how I'll feel the day I hear my eggs have helped a couple have a child; completely thrilled, I'm sure.

'Some friends say they wouldn't be able to get their head around thinking of 'their child' out there, growing up with another mum. I don't think about it in those terms.

'To me, I'm using what would otherwise be a fruitless menstrual cycle to offer a couple hope. Any resulting baby, bathed in the hormones of the other mum's womb, bonded with during pregnancy and labour: that other woman is his or her 'real' mum, as far as I'm concerned.

'I'm happy that I'm completely at ease with the part I play as an egg donor and that I'm able to continue helping as many couples as I can, until I'm at the point of having my own family.'

Find out more

To find out more about egg donation, visit www.ngdt.co.uk or call 0845 226 9193. Ideally the NGDT looks for women aged 18-35, and wholeheartedly welcomes women with or without children.

Donors should have a healthy medical record, with no family history of genetic or inheritable disease.

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