Egg donation involves injecting hormones to stimulate ovarian follicles. Later, eggs are removed from the ovary using a needle. Researchers have not yet fully studied the long-term health impact of donating eggs. Payments of up to $35,000 are now available to egg donors, according to the Daily Princetonian. Thus young women may donate eggs without fully understanding that they may be risking their future health.
Risks of Hormone Injections
To prepare for the egg donation process, a woman is given injections of hormones. The injections stimulate the follicles to help eggs develop into maturity and also control release of the mature eggs until they are removed using a needle during the egg retrieval process. The risks of using hormones in this way are not yet fully known.
Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome
Ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome is a serious disorder that sometimes occurs during retrieval of the eggs; this problem may require hospitalization. This disorder may lead to a feeling of being unable to breathe. According to the Center for Genetics and Society, patients may have symptoms of gastrointestinal pain. Rarely, ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome may cause death or kidney failure. The long-term risks of retrieving eggs are not yet known.
Risks of Anesthesia
Anesthesia is used when the eggs (oocytes) are retrieved from the ovaries. There are always risks any time anesthesia is used.
Risk to Fertility
Some women have noted that they experienced "infertility or decreased fertility" after egg donation, notes the Washington Post. Women who donate eggs, particularly those who have numerous cycles of egg donation, may impair their own future fertility.
Ovarian Cancer
Dr. Robert Steinbrook published an article in the New England Journal of Medicine (January 26, 2006) about the risk of possible development of ovarian cancer after multiple rounds of the hormone treatment required in egg donation. Thus women who donate eggs do so with the risk that they may later be at risk for ovarian cancer.
Lack of Informed Consent
Egg donors often are in their twenties and think they are invicible. They do not truly understand the concepts of how as they age they may be at higher risk for diseases due to egg donation, notes the Daily Princetonian. They also may not fully understand the contract they are given. Thus they undergo a medical procedure with out full knowledge of the impact it may have on their future longevity.
National Egg Donor Registry
Many people in the health care field believe that it is crucial to establish a national egg donor registry to track the health of egg donors. This would ensure that future health complications would be easy to track and document.
Member Comments