Altrui has been hard at work trying to recruit egg donors for such genuinely nice couples who have really been to hell and back trying to start a family, and slowly but surely we are winning. We now have a database of over 300 women who have all shown an interest in how to become a donor or how to help us find donors, and raise awareness that egg donation can be done well and is nothing to be worried about.

But interestingly, although having been in working in fertility for 20 years or so, I really had no idea what the fundamental reasons were why donors were so difficult to find. But having been doing this now for 9 months (the time it takes to go through a pregnancy) I find that I am at the labour stage of Altrui. I’ve had the congratulations (as in a pregnancy), I’ve watched this baby grow and I’ve given it everything I can and nourished it, and now I am in labour. There are so many good reasons for being an egg donor, but also so many reasons why people feel that they can’t or don’t know that they can.

Funnily enough the first real live Altrui baby is due in a couple of week’s time, and he was the one who was ultimately responsible for starting Altrui – finding completely the right match in a donor for the couple. The absolute pleasure that I know will come from seeing this little one arrive in the world after so much heartache and despair will make this all worthwhile and will make the labour of Altrui reason enough to keep pushing ahead. It is now time to bring this child up.