This year, Helsinki-based Camilla (name changed) decided to become an egg donor. Camilla sees egg donation as a good, rewarding act that in some ways is comparable to being a blood donor: only a slight inconvenience for the donor, but a huge source of joy and perhaps a new life for many families.
This is what Camilla says about her experience:
I know many couples in my circle of friends who have tried to get pregnant for a long time, some for as long as seven years. I have never had problems with fertility and I’ve now had all the children I want. That’s why I decided to help someone else make their dream come true with my eggs.
What clinched my decision was seeing the Fertinova advert on the back of the seat of my local bus. I felt it was time to contact the clinic and find out if I could be a donor. Fertinova is now a part of Ovumia.
The donor’s journey begins with an interview and some laboratory tests. I also participated in donor egg counselling. It was important to me to learn as much as I needed right from the start about what I was getting into. After all, the donor gives up her right to the child who may be born from the donated eggs. The donor must be crystal clear and unambiguous about this when she decides to become a donor.
Physically very easy
I found the donation of eggs a much easier process than I had expected. The medication for growing the eggs is used for slightly more than a week after your period has started. The day of the egg collection is confirmed with an ultrasound scan.
The collection is carried out by passing a very fine needle through the vaginal wall and into the ovary, and I assumed it would be very painful. I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly it happened, within minutes, and with almost no pain. Of course, everyone responds to pain in their own way, but I can honestly say that I didn’t even register it as actual pain and what’s more, there is plenty of pain relief at hand. After the collection, I didn’t need any sick leave. I felt a slight ache and had some swelling, similar to cramps during my period.
That’s all.
I’ve donated eggs twice at Fertinova and they always make me feel important. At the clinic, we talked about this and that, the staff remembered our discussions from the previous time and I felt like a member of the Fertinova family.
Positive news
From the first donation, one of my eggs was used immediately in a fresh transfer. A little later I learned that the treatment had been successful, resulting in pregnancy. I remember feeling like crying and smiling at the same time. I was so happy to have helped someone to have a child.
I have talked about this with my family, and my friends also know that I’ve donated eggs. My own children are still young but I’ve told them too.
I intend to donate more eggs as many times as possible. In Finland, the eggs of the same donor can be given to five different families. When the child comes of age, he or she has the right to know about their biological origins.
If a person who came to be because of my donation contacts me as an adult, I promise to make him or her a cup of coffee and answer any questions they may want to ask. I’ve also come to the conclusion that children conceived from donated cells have the best possible starting point in life because their parents have longed and waited for them so eagerly.
Thank you for letting me help.
With grateful thanks for Camilla’s donations and courage to take action and donate her eggs:
Eija Dorbek, Hanna Haapanen, Riitta Luhtio, Anna Pulkkinen, Pekka Sillanaukee
