Guest post: Egg donors aren’t like sperm donors
Originally a comment by Arcadia on I wanted them to be super fit.
If I may, “just deliver an egg” is quite minimising language about what actually happens. Egg donors aren’t like sperm donors, it’s not a pleasant process where she can just have a wank and catch millions of eggs in a sterile container.
Egg donation requires extensive hormonal medication to induce her to overproduce eggs, trigger shots to release them, lots of vaginal ultrasounds to determine the progress of the eggs, and the eggs are retrieved with a huge needle. None of it is fun, and risks are attached for her at every stage. Many women note how awful IVF is to undergo; egg donation is that process – the only part missing is having an embryo transferred. And all this may produce perhaps twenty eggs (if you’re lucky), of which perhaps half are viable. I’ve done IVF three times and the most I ever got was seven eggs, four of which were viable, two of which successfully fertilised, and none were suitable for embryo transfer.
I personally find it strange that so many members of the public are aware of how hard and risky IVF is, but are unable to connect that to any sympathy for egg donors.
None of it is easy, fun, risk free or even successful. She incurs all the risks, harms and the disappointment in the event that she “fails”.
There’s a great documentary about this, called Eggsploitation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAMrwAGR3GA
It was always my understanding that all of the eggs that a woman will produce have been developed while she is a fetal and she will be born with them. So does IVF accelerate the monthly cycle in order to ovulate an exces of eggs ready for extraction? And what effects does that have on her body for the next 6 (or 20) months after an IVF extraction? I can’t imagine how it would be anyting less than disruptive, and would it be similar to menopause? Of course, if she does have a successful pregancy, I realize that all of those hormonal changes will take place. But what if the IVF is not successful?
Men really do have it easy when it comes to reproduction. All we have to worry about is ED, and now even that is easily treatable.
Mike, may I add to your list of questions
Do women who don’t have children experience menopause earlier than those who do (ovulation on pause during pregnancy)? Does menopause start generally earlier in modern times (places) compared to pre-birth control times (because women can opt out of spending their adult lives pregnant)? Does hormonal birth control eke out a woman’s supply of eggs (how ironic that would be, preventing pregnancy now, but extending future fertility)? I guess all of these things hinge on the basic question – does menopause mean all the eggs are gone, or does it mean the ovaries have handed in their notice? I’ve had a bit of a google but frankly, I’ve been put off by articles starting with “many people use hormonal birth control”. If an outfit calling itself Medical News Today doesn’t know or won’t say what kind of people, I don’t know what else they are keeping from me.
And that dismissive attitude is only about the “egg donor.” Never mind the body slave who’s going to gestate the embryo.
Mike, for your questions, I don’t know for sure. First, yes, a woman is born with every egg she will ever produce, but this is actually many thousands, and at one cycle every 28 days (approximately) from puberty to menopause (50 years, max), she’ll never get through them all. Most eggs are never ovulated at all, and IVF seeks to capitalise on these otherwise unused eggs.
Doctors do talk about “egg reserve” as an indicator of fertility and nearness of menopause, but I don’t think it’s as simple as “out of eggs, menopause now”.
The hormonal drugs given by IVF doctors are said by some to mimic menopause, with the body reacting in a panic to produce as many eggs as it can because it’s the last chance.
This is a link to a reputable fertility clinic if that helps: https://monashivf.com/