What does egg donation involve?

Hi there! I want to become an egg donor, and that’s why I’m participating in this forum… But I actually don’t know what is the process of egg donation, what is involved. I don’t know what are the particular questions to ask about egg donation, so I hope you can provide me with a detailed explanation if possible. Thank you very much for any help you can give me 😉

Dear Juliette,

I will explain all the details of the process to you hereafter. Firstly, you are required to undergo a screening for potential egg donors, which includes a psychological screening, a thorough gynecological exam, and a personal interview. Once you are accepted as a donor, ovarian stimulation is scheduled, which consists of stimulating the ovaries to trigger egg production. This is done via subcutaneous hormone medications, that is to say, it is injected.

Secondly, around the next 15 days after having taken the stimulation of ovarian function medications, follicular puncture is performed. It should be clear that the follicular puncture will be performed only provided that your follicles (small sacks where eggs are contained) acquire the adequate size and the hormone tests show the desired hormone levels. Follicular puncture is performed under sedation (anesthesia) and the purpose of this surgical intervention is sucking out the fluid of the follicle that contains the eggs. It takes approximately between 20 and 30 minutes and hospitalization is not required.

During the whole process you will be continuously monitored via ultrasound scan and blood testing to check whether the ovarian stimulation process is working as expected.

Hope this helps