If you’re considering donating your eggs, you may be looking to understand the benefits and potential risks involved. Here’s what you need to know.
The Benefits of Egg Donation
Egg donation is a true gift to many families. The CDC estimates that one-fifth of women encounter infertility every year, and egg donation can help many of them realize their dream of having a child.
Cofertility allows women the unique opportunity to keep half of their retrieved eggs and freeze them for themselves entirely for free when they donate the other half to a family that cannot otherwise conceive. (As a Split Member, Cofertility’s donors also have the added benefit of free health screenings and access to fertility experts to discuss their own reproductive plans.)
Overall Risk
According to a study published in Fertility and Sterility in 2017, the overall risk of complications from donating or freezing your eggs is low, with an overall complication rate of only 0.4% for more than 23,000 egg retrieval procedures done on women included in the study.
Prior to the egg donation process, a thorough screening process is undertaken to ensure the donor is physically and mentally fit to undergo the procedure. Women with pre-existing health conditions that put them at risk are unlikely to pass the initial screening process. For women deemed healthy and suitable for donation, the risks are mainly related to the egg production and egg retrieval phases.
Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome (OHSS)
During the egg donation process, women are given hormonal medications to stimulate their ovaries to produce more eggs, which carries a risk of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS). Cases of OHSS are rare, occurring in less than 5% of women who use these medications. The symptoms are usually mild and include bloating, nausea, and general discomfort. OHSS cases that require medical attention occur in about 0.1% to 2% percent of women
Anesthesia
Another risk that should be considered is the use of anesthesia, which carries its own risks, such as nausea, vomiting, low blood pressure, and allergic reactions. However, major complications from anesthesia are rare, occurring at a rate of just 1.1 per million per year across all types of procedures.
Retrieval Complications
During the egg retrieval process, a fertility specialist will use a thin needle to aspirate eggs from the donor's ovaries, which carries a risk of bleeding, infection, or injury to nearby organs such as the bladder or bowels. However, according to the study, only 0.4% of women encountered complications during this part of the egg donation process, and just 0.29% of those women required surgery due to those complications.
Your Future Fertility
One of the most common concerns of potential donors is whether donating eggs will affect their future fertility. The answer is no. Donating eggs does not lower a woman's ovarian reserve or affect her chances of getting pregnant unassisted in the future.
Summary
The risks associated with egg donation are relatively low, and the rewards of helping a family grow can be powerful. Donors who are physically and mentally fit, and who have carefully considered their decision to donate their eggs, can find it to be a fulfilling experience that ultimately benefits everyone involved.
Meera Shah, MD, FACOG, is a double board certified OBGYN and reproductive endocrinology and fertility specialist at Nova IVF in Mountain View, California. She received her Bachelor's degree at UC-Berkeley and completed a post-baccalaureate research fellowship at the National Institute of Health Academy program. She attended Stanford Medical School and completed her residency training in obstetrics and gynecology at the University of California, San Francisco. She rounded out her training with a fellowship in reproductive endocrinology and infertility at Stanford University. She is an active member of the Pacific Coast Reproductive Society, American Society of Reproductive Medicine, and Bay Area Reproductive Society.
Are you considering donating your eggs?
Instead of donating eggs for cash compensation, there’s now an option to donate some eggs and keep some eggs for yourself. These new egg share models are a great opportunity if you are excited about egg freezing and simultaneously want to help a family who can’t conceive otherwise.
Note: there are some clinical criteria that candidates must meet (e.g. be within a certain age range, have both ovaries , etc.) If you’d like to explore egg donation further, we recommend the Split program with Freeze by Co. You get to keep half the eggs you retrieve and enjoy free storage for up to 10 years. Take the quiz to learn more & see if you qualify.
