Perhaps you can relate to this scenario: After a year or two or maybe more of trying to get pregnant, your doctor breaks the news that your most likely options for having a child are egg donation or surrogacy. You and your partner are devastated that your dream of raising a child has been dashed. It is perfectly normal and appropriate to grieve over this news.
However, you are not alone. First of all, there are counselors and fertility specialists who can help you walk through your decision. At RSI we treat every patient with compassion and carefully help them consider their options. It is our #1 priority to help you successfully become parents. Secondly, there are millions of other couples out there who have found themselves in your shoes and are now parents. Look through websites and agencies to read some testimonials of people who have started their families by way of egg donation, surrogacy and gestational carrier. You may appreciate knowing that the Reproductive Science Institute of Suburban Philadelphia, P.C. has excellent egg donor and surrogate programs.
If you are new to all of this, some things to think about before your first appointment with your chosen infertility doctor:
Egg Donation: A donated egg will often be fertilized by the male partner’s sperm and the resulting embryo will then be implanted via IVF either into the female partner’s uterus or that of a surrogate. Many egg donors choose to remain anonymous but every once in awhile you will have the option to know more about your egg donor. In rare, but not unusual, cases, an egg donor might be a family member or friend of the couple.
Surrogacy: A surrogate always is impregnated via IVF, either with an embryo created by the male partner’s sperm and a donor egg or by an embryo created by the sperm and egg of both partners in the couple hoping to be parents (in this case, the surrogate is referred to as a gestational carrier). Again, it is typical to choose a surrogate carrier by way of an agency or often through your fertility clinic but every once in awhile, a couple will have a known family member or friend carry their baby.
After you’ve taken some time to process your situation, schedule a consultation as a couple with a fertility clinic that you have found based on recommendations or based on its reputation. From that point on, the health professionals at your clinic will: see to it that each and every one of your questions is answered; help you assess all the options available to you based on your unique situation; carefully guide you through the screening and selection process of choosing either an egg donor or surrogate if that is the route you choose to take. We wish you the very best of luck!
Egg donation is a very personal choice many individuals and couples make when seeking assistance in conceiving a child. Because every
A Mother’s Plan to Freeze Eggs for Her Daughter
Wednesday, February 2nd, 2011For mother Penny Jarvis-Stephens of South Yorkshire, England, the decision to freeze some of her own eggs for her daughter’s future use was an easy one. Penny’s daughter, Mackenzie, is only two years old, but was born with Turner Syndrome which is known to cause infertility. While Mackenzie would obviously not use the eggs for a long time, Penny wants to plan ahead for her daughter’s future. She wants Mackenzie to have the option to experience the joys of motherhood as she, a mother of five, has. The chances are extremely high, though, given Mackenzie’s condition with Turner Syndrome, that one of her only chances for having a child would be through IVF. Thus, Penny is looking into the process of freezing donor eggs now while she is still within child-bearing age. “I’m looking at it as donating an organ,” Penny explains.
Some might think of this as a thoughtful gesture on the part of this mother. Such is not the case for everyone, however. Penny has received a number of negative comments, some even abusive, on an internet forum where she had posted her plans. This controversy begs the question as to whether people are opposed to IVF egg donors being family members or just between the case of mother and daughter? Or is the controversy simply brought up because the eggs are intended for a child who is not even close to being of an age of considering using those eggs? Whatever anyone’s opinion may be, we hope that Penny receives the best counsel on how to accomplish the plan that she has chosen.
Have you ever considered using a donor egg? Or perhaps donating your own eggs? We are more than happy to provide more information or answer any questions you may have about either process!
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Tags: Controversy, Donating Eggs, Donor Egg, Donor Eggs, Egg Donors, Family Members, Infertility, Internet Forum, IVF, Jarvis, Joys Of Motherhood, Long Time, Mackenzie, Mother And Daughter, Negative Comments, One Penny, South England, South Yorkshire England, Thoughtful Gesture, Turner Syndrome, Yorkshire
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