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I want to donate my eggs! Am I eligible?

So I was just reading about egg donation etc and there is a place in London that actually pays you like 750pounds for donating your eggs! I thought you could only do that kind of thing for free, out of kindness!

I totally want to do it! I mean, 750pounds for taking a few medical tests and taking a few pills for a few weeks is free money.

I'm healthy and I would pass all the medical tests, I regularly get blood drawn and my hormones are fine, ovaries are completely healthy however there are two problems that I think might make it not possible for me to donate.

First of all, I have hypothyroidism, the autoimmune disease-related one, which is called Hashimoto's disease. Are people with autoimmune diseases excluded? It is inheritable but a relatively common disease and of course I'm taking medication for it and my hormone levels are completely normal.

I know they also need about three generations worth of medical history, now all three generations of my family on both sides were pretty healthy and lived very long lives, good genes in the family. However do they actually require you to give them medical papers about the past three generations of your family? I mean that would basically mean NO ONE could donate eggs because I am sure no one holds extensive medical records of their great-grand mother so it sounds rather unreasonable and pointless, I mean women don't think about their family genetics several generations back when they decide they want kids.


So am I automatically excluded for my condition + lack of proof of family history? Does anyone know more about how this actually works?
Reply 1
Original post by driftawaay
So I was just reading about egg donation etc and there is a place in London that actually pays you like 750pounds for donating your eggs! I thought you could only do that kind of thing for free, out of kindness!

I totally want to do it! I mean, 750pounds for taking a few medical tests and taking a few pills for a few weeks is free money.

I'm healthy and I would pass all the medical tests, I regularly get blood drawn and my hormones are fine, ovaries are completely healthy however there are two problems that I think might make it not possible for me to donate.

First of all, I have hypothyroidism, the autoimmune disease-related one, which is called Hashimoto's disease. Are people with autoimmune diseases excluded? It is inheritable but a relatively common disease and of course I'm taking medication for it and my hormone levels are completely normal.

I know they also need about three generations worth of medical history, now all three generations of my family on both sides were pretty healthy and lived very long lives, good genes in the family. However do they actually require you to give them medical papers about the past three generations of your family? I mean that would basically mean NO ONE could donate eggs because I am sure no one holds extensive medical records of their great-grand mother so it sounds rather unreasonable and pointless, I mean women don't think about their family genetics several generations back when they decide they want kids.


So am I automatically excluded for my condition + lack of proof of family history? Does anyone know more about how this actually works?


Firstly, it's not as easy as you seem to think it is. The initial stage does involve taking pro-fertility medications and checkups, but the actual donation procedure involves aspiration of the eggs either using a small operation on your abdomen or an ultrasound-guided needle. All operations of any sort carry a small risk of infection and bleeding, and in extreme cases a pelvic infection could lead to damaged tubes resulting in future fertility problems for yourself. This is why the compensation for donating is substantial :smile:

You would have to disclose your thyroiditis during the screening visits. The guidance from the NGDT is "[Donors] need to be free from any serious medical problems and disability and with no history of congenital, family or hereditary disease", which could well include HT. You could always ring up your local donation centre and discuss? As for the family history, they're looking for things like birth defects and transmissible genetic diseases - I believe this may be done via the GPs?
(edited 9 years ago)
Reply 2
Original post by alex193
Firstly, it's not as easy as you seem to think it is. The initial stage does involve taking pro-fertility medications and checkups, but the actual donation procedure involves aspiration of the eggs either using a small operation on your abdomen or an ultrasound-guided needle. All operations of any sort carry a small risk of infection and bleeding, and in extreme cases a pelvic infection could lead to damaged tubes resulting in future fertility problems for yourself. This is why the compensation for donating is substantial :smile:

You would have to disclose your thyroiditis during the screening visits. The guidance from the NGDT is "[Donors] need to be free from any serious medical problems and disability and with no history of congenital, family or hereditary disease", which could well include HT. You could always ring up your local donation centre and discuss? As for the family history, they're looking for things like birth defects and transmissible genetic diseases - I believe this may be done via the GPs?


I know all about that. But the risk of serious complications is extremely low and it's normally a very safe procedure. Damaged tubes would be my last problem, as I would never even consider giving birth to a child. I'm gay which means I might donate eggs to my future wife if she decides she'd prefer that instead of adoption, so even if I don't donate eggs for money, I'm still wondering whether I could donate to my wife in the future!
Reply 3
Original post by driftawaay
I know all about that. But the risk of serious complications is extremely low and it's normally a very safe procedure. Damaged tubes would be my last problem, as I would never even consider giving birth to a child. I'm gay which means I might donate eggs to my future wife if she decides she'd prefer that instead of adoption, so even if I don't donate eggs for money, I'm still wondering whether I could donate to my wife in the future!


OK, good, got a bit worried about your injections and checkups for free cash comment, thought you might have missed a crucial step :tongue:

Hmm, this gets a little complicated with the donation vs. sharing. To be honest you'd probably be best off emailing or ringing as the NGDT only provides limited information online, and it would be a good idea to talk to a professional before possibly making things difficult for you and your partner in future if you do donate or something. Good luck!

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