Egg Donation

My philosophy and thoughts on freezing my own eggs for potential future use are slowly changing.

I stumbled across an egg donation organization through my work in biotech. A lightbulb in my head went off - why don't I try to donate my eggs? I see the following benefits for myself:

• My genes may never be passed on to my own offspring. I like my genes and I think they're good genes. If someone else can utilize my genes for offspring, that would be perfect.
• Egg donors are compensated approximately $10,000 per cycle (which produces ~9-12 eggs), depending on the donation organization. This compensation is fair as it's an extremely exhaustive (physically, mentally, emotionally, everythingy) process. I could use this money toward freezing my own eggs. Or a new car.

By the way, egg donors are so thoroughly examined and prodded. Here are the steps you have to go through, and at every step, you can be rejected as a donor for any reason:

1. Submit initial application, including pictures, medical history, consents
2. Send all medical records to donation organization
3. Genetic screening of myself, and what I know of those related to me
4. Psychological screening of myself, in person
5. Blood screening (for pathogens, diseases, and broadly, genetic screening)
6. Antral follicle examination by vaginal ultrasound

And that's just to be accepted as an egg donor! Egg harvest and retrieval have to be covered in another blog post!

Talking with a friend recently, she said that people around the world still have kids into their late 30s and early 40s. I haven't verified this information, but our conversation triggered something. Why worry about it? I had seen egg freezing as somewhat of an insurance policy because I heard horror stories of women in their late 30s who wanted a child and weren't able to conceive, then paying upwards of $50K for years of trial and tears to have a baby.

I don't think I will ever be one of those women. At least I hope not. I'm hardly ever around kids, and I don't jump at the opportunity to play with my friends' kids. I'm actually very independent and am unsure how I feel about another human depending on me, granted it would be a wonderful human I made. I don't have dreams of having a baby. It shouldn't be something that I worry about now. It should be natural. If it happens, it happens. Our society is stressing us out for no reason. I feel that is partially the reason why couples can't have kids when they want - because they are knowingly "trying" - they are forcing it.

I probably took the egg freezing idea too far as I am generally a planner (Meyers Briggs INFJ!), and live in the future too much.