Many black and Asian couples can only have the family they so badly want with the help of an egg donor, yet very few suitable donors come forward. Alison Bagshawe talks to Janet Wainaina of UK-Kenya-TV (UKENTV) about the urgent need for black and Asian egg donors. Alison says:
It is particularly important for black and Asian couples to have children… it’s so much part of the culture, and it’s them that I want to reach out to – women out there who can help those people.
She goes on to explain how difficult it is for couples to talk about this very painful issue. Because it is never discussed, the silence means their friends and family don’t realise there is a problem and aren’t aware of just how much their help is needed.
Within black and Asian communities, the stigma attached to infertility is massive… I’ve worked with people all my professional life where they have been crying in silence behind closed doors and they lose the contact with friends and family, they feel so ostracised because they haven’t got a child, it’s such a stigma. There are people that you will know but you don’t know they are suffering in this way – but they need your help!
It’s nothing to be ashamed of – there are all sorts of reasons that people can’t have a baby, it could be that they’ve gone through cancer treatment or they’ve gone through menopause very early. It is not their fault, it’s just another condition that they have, like diabetes, but they need help to get over that.
There are so many couples waiting for an egg donor to help make their dream of having a family come true – could you be one of these special women? Please get in touch to find out what donation involves.
We are so grateful to Janet and to UKENTV for helping us raise awareness of the need for black and Asian donors.