2001 - Egg Donation

When we were having our fertility treatment, I promised that if I were lucky enough to fall pregnant, I would donate my eggs. I know what it is like not to be able to have children and if I could help someone else going through the same thing then I would. It was in 2001 when Charlotte had just turned one that I wrote to the hospital and told them that if they wanted them I was willing to donate them.

We had to practically go through the same routine as we did when we went through our own treatment. As well as my permission to take my eggs they also needed Steve's permission. We also had to be seen again by the psychiatrist. I'm assuming this was to make sure I was doing it for the right reasons. The only thing I had wanted to know is if they had been successful. I would have like to have known that I had helped someone. The answer was no.

The treatment wasn't quite the same, it was IVF treatment. Near to my ovulation I had to go to hospital at 8.00 am. Luckily the crèche where Charlotte was going was very good to me and took her at 7.30am and kept her until I got back. At the hospital, I along with everyone else had to take a number and wait in line. When my number came up I was blood tested for hormones and scanned for egg activity. I then had to phone in the afternoon to see if I was ready for drug taking or if I had to come back for another test. This was the same as my own fertility treatment except that it was in a different place with a lot more women. I was told that as I was donating that I could jump the queue but I just didn't feel right about doing it and so waited in line with everyone else. I had to go to the hospital 3 times for the blood test and scan. On the last time, whilst I was waiting, a woman came in and wafted past us all and just completely jumped to the front of the queue. When she was leaving, a woman who had been waiting with the rest of us very politely told her 'next time, take a number please'. Well the argument that erupted in the waiting room was incredible. The woman said that she was a doctor and had to get back to work, eruptions of 'we've all got jobs to get back to' then ensued to which she replied that as a doctor she was much more important than them. I'm surprised the woman wasn't lynched.

Anyway, after that, everyday for a few days I had to go to my local nurse and be injected. The last drug had to be delivered at 11pm so the nurse had to come to my house (there was none of this doing it yourself or getting your partner to do it). Two days later, Steve dropped me off at the hospital at 8am. My friend Linda had told me that she had heard from several people that extraction was incredibly painful and thought I was nuts. As I had been first into the hospital they took me down for extraction first. It was uncomfortable but certainly not painful. They asked me if I wanted to know how many eggs I had produced but I decided it was best not to know, however they did say I had worked hard.

After wheeling me back into the room I did feel incredibly faint but it passed after about 10 minutes and I gobbled down the breakfast they had brought in. I stayed another couple of hours and I left when Steve came with Charlotte to pick me up.

Six months later I had to have another HIV test to check that I didn't have HIV at the time I donated my eggs.

People have asked me what I would do if in 18 years time someone knocks on my door and says 'you're my real mum'. I am not their real mum. I may have helped create them but the woman who brought them up is their real mum. If they want to know things like medical background or anything like that then I will be happy to oblige, as I can understand that a child born from donor eggs/sperm would want to know their biological background.