Egg Donation
News Story 1 |Once a woman is selected to be a donor, the woman will begin the stimulation protocol, which requires medicines to be to be injected under the skin for about three weeks with four or more ultrasound exams and blood draws.
Jami Foley, a registered nurse at Reproductive Care of Indiana, said the egg donors receive thousands of dollars for donations because of the length of the donation process.
"(Women are paid more) because of the time involved and the monitoring of the cycle," said Foley. "It takes six weeks to get an egg donor stimulated."
The stimulation protocol is done in order to get the woman to produce multiple eggs. Trans-vaginal ultrasound is used to monitor the follicle growth.
"(The donation process) is a surgical procedure under moderate sedation; the patient is very relaxed," said Foley.
The eggs are removed through a small needle passed through the vaginal wall and into the first follicle. Suction is applied, the follicle's contents are emptied and the eggs are collected into a plastic tube. The follicle is then refilled, rinsed and emptied again to make sure the egg has been removed. Normally, the follicle is rinsed three to four times. This process continues until all follicles from the ovaries have been emptied.
The removal process has its dangers. Donors run the risk of ovarian hyperstimulation, which can put the woman in a hospital. It's also recommended that donors rest upright for 24 hours following the procedure. The ovaries ooze blood because of the punctures and -- if she lies flat -- the woman runs the risk of bloody fluid reaching the area of her diaphragm, which could lead to chest and shoulder pain.
News Story 2 |RISKS INVOLVED
* Women typically take a drug daily for 1-2 weeks, preventing ovulation
* Fertility drugs are then injected to hyperstimulate the ovaries, which should trigger the development of egg-containing follicles
* A third hormone is taken to mature the eggs
* Eggs are collected through a minor surgical procedure involving in some cases, general anaesthesic
* Risks include bleeding, infection, pregnancy and complications associated with general anaesthesia
* The hormonal treatment carries an up to 6 per cent chance of severe ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome, which can lead to kidney failure or death