Making the Decision to Use an Egg Donor

The decision to use a donor’s egg instead of your own eggs presents emotional as well as financial issues. Benefits of using donated eggs include better success rates and donor selection. The couple can select a donor who has similar physical characteristics and talents. Using the male partner’s sperm, the recipient carries the pregnancy. The following testimonial from one of our recipients touches on each of these issues:

“Our physician presented the option of egg donation to us when we came to the virtual end-of-the-line with our personal infertility treatment. It was the conclusion that the age of my eggs (and potential age-related genetic issues) was most likely the cause of the IVF treatment failure. What we really wanted all along was to conceive a child of our own. We were ready to pursue what we thought was the next best thing … adoption, when we were presented with the statistics and positive outcomes related to IVF using an egg donor. The idea of being able to choose a candidate who was not only interested in helping us, but that had similar personal physical characteristics as I or my family members became more appealing as time wore on. The knowledge that a young donor with younger eggs than mine would be less likely to have the same issues with potential genetic problems was an extremely important decision-making factor. The fact that my husband would be one of the genetic parents of a child born to us using an egg donor meant a lot to us. As important to us as a couple is the process and experience of carrying a pregnancy from beginning to end. This is a truly important aspect of parenting and motherhood, aside from raising a child. This aspect of parenting could not be achieved through adoption. There was virtually no question in my mind or in my husband’s as to whether we should pursue this. We were ready from Day One. Our only regret was not pursuing this option earlier!”