December 23rd, 2011
As the Christmas festivities get underway, we want to say a massive heartfelt thank you for your commitment to helping a couple with their dreams to have a family in the New Year.
I’m sure you can imagine that Christmas is a very difficult time for couples battling fertility problems and that’s even more so for couples who need an egg donor to make their journey possible because they are totally reliant upon someone other than themselves to make the magic happen. And this Christmas, we can’t believe just how many Altrui couples have been given such a massive amount of hope about what next year has in store for them, whether it is because someone amazing like you is prepared to give them a gift of eggs next year or that they have benefited from your donation. Whether your couple’s journey has gone on to result in a successful pregnancy or not, your amazing gift remains the same: inspiring, generous and selfless.
It is truly an honour for us to work with and to get know someone like you who will consider giving this gift, and very humbling to have contact with such an amazing woman who will go on to make the most significant difference possible, in the lives of a couple longing for a child.
From the bottom of our hearts and the hearts of the couple you are giving hope to, thank you so SO much.
We hope that 2012 is a fantastic year for you and that you have the good fortune you justly deserve.
Happy Christmas from us at Altrui
Posted by Alison
October 22nd, 2011
You will probably have heard that on Wednesday 19th October the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) announced changes to the donation regulations and Altrui was right at the forefront. As an acknowledged fertility expert, Alison was invited onto BBC Breakfast TV to discuss the impending changes with Sian Williams and Bill Turnbull. If you missed this moment you can view the clip of her interview on Youtube by clicking here: Alison’s Interview.
In fact Alison was in popular demand on Wednesday because she was also asked to talk on BBC Radio York, BBC Radio London and BBC Radio Kent (click the links to listen) and to give her thoughts about the changes. In brief the HFEA announced that they are going to cap the compensation for egg donors at £750.00. This might seem a great hike from the current £250.00 for loss of earnings, but actually it isn’t as big a change as it might sound. We manage the expenses for donors at Guy’s and at the moment most donors incur about £550.00 in total expenses going through a cycle. This is definitely NOT payment -merely reimbursement for travelling and expenses.
The great news for donors is that this compensation will apply to everyone – not just those in work, which is the case at the moment. This is in recognition of the commitment and disruption that is usually involved when going through a treatment cycle. The changes will not come into effect until April 2012. Please don’t let this put you off and delay things, because it usually takes 4-6 months to work up and into a treatment cycle, by the time we have matched you and you have had all the necessary appointments.
We would love to know your views about these changes, so please hop over to our Facebook page and let us know: Altrui Facebook
Posted by Administrator
October 11th, 2011
“Having a donor has changed our world in two very profound ways. Firstly it allowed me the chance to conceive for the first time in my life, and take a step closer to our dreams, not just of holding our own baby, but actually having a noisy, maddening, loving, family of our own to care about the rest of our lives together.
Secondly, the fact that this opportunity was given to us by an anonymous, altruistic donor makes it the most precious and powerful gift we will ever receive. I don’t think many donor recipients can ever reach the stage of seeking treatment without experiencing quite devastating disappointments over a journey that may have lasted several years. For me this meant that I approached my treatment with a fair degree of fear. My donor’s enthusiasm and bright positivity, her total commitment and unfailing responsibility to the treatment was something that lifted us up through the weeks. The fact that we had to trust a complete stranger implicitly and that she never let us down will have a lasting effect on me, quite beyond any matter of a successful outcome.
Her kind and good actions have affected me deeply and I can quite honestly say that I look at the world around me, and the strangers that I encounter every day, in a quite different light because of what our donor has done for us”.
Posted by Alison
September 20th, 2011
Looking for ways to find women who might become egg donors I came across this article in Psychologies Magazine http://www.psychologies.co.uk/body/altruism-is-good-for-our-health and found that it resonated with what so many of our egg donors have said, and felt, about helping a couple start a family. Essentially it is “QI” – quite interesting – that this article says that helping others provides a profound sense of satisfaction which has direct physiological benefits.
Virtually all our donors have said that they get a real high in becoming a donor, which reflects the contents of this article, and surprisingly many have stated that they feel really well and happy afterwards. On becoming a donor one has said, “It was the right decision for me, as I’m sure it would be for many other women, if they only know that they can do it and what they would feel if they did”. So what a great thing to do!
We have a few donors at the moment who, off their own bat, are in the process of losing massive amounts of weight to get below the BMI of 30 that is necessary to be a donor – for someone they don’t even know and are not yet matched with! This is such a hugely staggering commitment to becoming a donor that they deserve every possible benefit of this altruism - from better health to the absolute right to feel good about themselves in becoming an altruistic egg donor.
Posted by Alison
July 26th, 2011
An article was written in ‘BioNews’ recently (‘Listen to Donors’) about how important it is to value and respect altruistic donors. This is something that we at Altrui feel passionately about. It is so easy to give the impression that donors have to fit in with the time scales of the clinics, and merge with the general accepted pattern, that lateral thinking about how to make it as easy as possible for donors, as well as recognising them for this gift they offer, is not often part of the equation.
Altruistic egg donors really encapsulate the best in people. Not only are they kind; they are selfless, committed and really extraordinarily special. Who else would subject themselves to such inconvenience and submit to becoming a patient for the duration? They have their privacy invaded, their motivation questioned and frequently have to wait patiently for appointments.
At Altrui we try to make this whole experience very positive, where the clinics who we work with understand that these really are very special women. We also have pro-active systems in place to support donors going through the treatment cycles. We try to ensure that they go through donation with minimal inconvenience, receiving the greatest of medical care. Appreciation for being an egg donor needs to come from everyone – the clinical staff, the admin team, and the recipients. Unless we all make it easy for egg donors, and respect and acknowledge their contribution for the selfless act that it is, we are never going to make headway in enabling couples who long for a family of their own achieve this through egg donation in the UK, and it will continue to be an uphill battle.
Posted by Alison
