Once you’ve decided to use egg donation as a means to have a child, you must then determine whether to use a known or unknown donor. There are ethical, legal and emotional considerations accompanying each choice. Below are a few of the considerations to take into account when deciding whether to use a known or unknown egg donor.
Future Emotions
Right now, you and your spouse may be overly-excited about the idea of having a child, and chances are that your excitement is spreading to your friends and family. If you are open about the fact that you are using egg donation to have a child, you may be surprised at how many women offer their eggs. However, do not overlook your future relationship with the person you know. Relationships with yourself and the child may become more complicated and the child ages, as the donor may feel as though the child is truly hers.
Current or Future Medical Conditions
Nothing in the universe is certain, and this includes a child’s mental and physical health. May debilitating diseases don’t show up until a child ages or grows into a teenager or young adult. As such, there is very little way for a donor or recipient to be certain about an egg’s health and genetics. Egg donation, therefore, always runs the risk of the child having a serious illnesses. Consider the impact of such illnesses on your relationship with an egg donor. You may be resentful or angry at the donor for your child’s illness, regardless of whether she was aware of the issue.
Conversely, the same issue arises with unknown egg donors. There is no way to know if an anonymous egg donor was completely truthful or knowledgeable about all of the conditions she has, which may or may not affect egg viability. an embryo and the child’s health.
Costs
An egg donor you know may give from the depths of their heart and not from the emptiness of their bank account. In contrast, generally woman do not undergo egg donation for free, but instead for the 5-10,000 dollars they earn per cycle. If you are on a limited budget and have a friend or family member willing to donate their eggs, using a known donor may enable you to save thousands of dollars.
Egg Retrieval Failure
The beginning of an egg donation process, which includes ovarian hyperstimulation and extraction, is painful and extensive with no true guarantee of success. This means that despite the efforts you put into choosing an anonymous individual for your donor, that donor could experience difficulties and be unable to donate. This means that you would essentially have to start at the beginning with another donor. Repeating the retrieval process is expensive. Knowing your donor could mean that their willingness to undergo the procedure a second time would be higher. or that they would not demand a second payment (if they were taking payment from you at all).
Thoroughly consider each issue prior to determining whether to use a known or unknown donor for egg donation. Then, should you decide to use a familiar individual as a donor, make a list of potential current and future problems. This list may change your mind.
