There can be a mass of information to absorb going through the egg donation cycle as a donor, so to make some aspects a little easier to digest we have put together a series of short videos which go a long way towards explaining the treatment that egg donors go through. Thanks to two of our donors, Leanne and Hayley, along with staff at Guy’s Assisted Conception Unit, we have filmed some videos which explain various aspects of the egg donation process.
In one set of videos a senior nurse explains to an Altrui donor what the drugs are for and how to prepare them ready for use. Not all the centres we work with use the same medication in the treatment cycle, however whatever their generic name, all have the same principal function – to develop the follicles in the ovaries, to prevent them from being prematurely released and to ripen the eggs ready for fertilisation. For women thinking about becoming an egg donor, as well as donors who are actually in the treatment cycle, these short films give invaluable, accurate information.
Becoming an egg donor for an anonymous woman is a great act of kindness. For a donor, not being able to see the joy and happiness that their help can bring can be a great shame, but hearing from one of the doctors what this means for a couple, makes it very real and hits home about just how valued donors are and what a huge life changing gift this is. As one recipient put it in a letter to their donor:
“It is hard to put into words the gratitude we feel towards you. When we were told a few years ago that I had low fertility in my early thirties, it felt like my world had ended and I lost all hope of having the family I had always dreamed of. Since we found each other, you have filled me with so much hope, happiness and peace, something I thought I would never feel again…….
We will never forget you and thank you from the bottom of our hearts….”
Finally the whole process of fertilisation and what happens in the lab once the eggs have been collected is discussed by a Consultant Embryologist with an Altrui donor. Many egg donors must wonder, but never get to hear, what happens once their eggs are collected and how their gift to a couple progresses from eggs into embryos. Hearing how eggs transform into embryos and subsequently a pregnancy, sheds light on what goes on behind the scenes.