If you are interested in donating your eggs, you should be aware of possible risks associated with egg donation. The New York State Department of Health has published a must-read guidebook for potential egg donors called "Thinking of Becoming an Egg Donor?" which provides detailed information about what you can expect regarding the medical procedures and risks of egg donation.
Risks from Ovarian Stimulation
According to the N.Y. State Department of Health (NYSDH) and the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM), the short-term physical risks from egg donation are due to ovarian stimulation and surgical recovery of the eggs. To recover 10 to 30 mature eggs, you need to stimulate your ovaries first by injecting yourself over a period of 10 days to two weeks with follicle stimulating hormones called gonadotropins. You might notice skin bruising, redness and soreness at the injection sites. Stimulation drugs can cause temporary hormonal side effects, such as hot flashes, sleep disorders, vaginal dryness, fatigue, body aches, mood swings, sore breasts and vision problems.
The most dangerous risk from ovarian stimulation is severe fluid retention and ovarian swelling from a medical condition called ovarian hyper-stimulation syndrome (OHSS) which, according to ASRM, occurs in less than 1 percent of donor stimulation cycles. According to NYSDH, a mild case of OHSS can involve symptoms of abdominal pain, pressure and swelling, which may require bed rest, daily monitoring and pain medications until the symptoms subside.
Although rare, severe cases of OHSS can have life-threatening complications, which may require hospitalization to treat problems, such as blood clots, kidney failure, fluid in the lungs and shock. In an extremely rare complication, surgery to remove one or both ovaries may be necessary.
Risks from Surgical Egg Recovery
After your ovarian simulation is complete and you have enough mature eggs for donation, your doctor will perform a medical procedure under anesthesia called ultrasound guided transvaginal oocyte retrieval to recover your eggs surgically. The physician will insert an elongated ultrasound probe with an attached needle into your vagina so that the follicles containing the eggs can be seen. The needle is pushed through the vaginal wall into the ovary and suction applied to remove the egg-containing fluid from each mature follicle. According to the ASRM website publication "Repetitive Oocyte Donation," risks from egg retrieval can arise from anesthesia complications, bleeding and pelvic inflammation.
The NYSDH guidebook describes severe but rare complications during egg retrieval, including the accidental puncture of the bowel, bladder or blood vessels with the sharp aspiration needle used to recover eggs. If these surgery complications occur, major abdominal surgery would be needed to control the bleeding and repair the damaged organs. Infection is another possible, but uncommon, complication from egg retrieval surgery.
Long-Term Risks
Based on current research, there is no increased risk of breast or ovarian cancer from hormonal stimulation medications, according to the National Academies Institute of Medicine (IOM) report called "Assessing the Medical Risks of Human Oocyte Donation for Stem Cell Research" (Feb. 6, 2007 issue), commissioned by the The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine. However, the report called for continued research to determine if there is any increased risk of uterine cancer in egg donors.
The IOM report concluded that there is no increased risk of future infertility to egg donors. Although these results are reassuring, ASRM recommends that fertility centers limit donors to a maximum of six egg donation cycles to further minimize the possibility of egg depletion and future infertility.
According to ASRM, long-term psychological effects, such as regret, about donating eggs are a possible risk, but this risk can be minimized by careful psychological screening and counseling of potential donors before they proceed with egg donation.
