If you’re thinking about using a donor egg to get pregnant, you might wonder about egg donation risks. The good news is that the egg donation is extremely safe. However, there are a few issues that should be considered before you proceed.
Emotional egg donation risks
A common egg donation risk involves your emotional experience. There are some serious psychological implications involved in receiving an egg donation that should be explored before making a decision.
Dealing with an infertility diagnosis brings about many emotions such as sadness, grief and anger. These emotions may be heightened when you find out the chance of pregnancy is limited to using donor eggs.
Because fertility often plays an integral role in a woman’s definition of herself and her purpose in life, it is important to acknowledge your feelings and communicate them to your partner
Genetics and donor eggs
How do you view the role of genetics in a family? This is another egg donation risk. Can you accept knowing you are not genetically tied to this child? Will it be difficult for you to look at your child and not see any shared physical characteristics?
On the other hand, you may be content with having at least one genetic tie to the child, if your partner’s sperm is used. Then, again, you may harbor resentment towards your partner that he doesn’t have to give up his genetic tie to the child.
As you consider these egg donation risks, it’s important to reflect on your emotions, as well as your partner’s feelings.
Lastly, you may experience a feeling isolation and being alone. You may choose not to tell many people in order to protect the child. Unfortunately, because egg donation is a fairly rare process, there are very limited support groups for women who have received a donor egg.
Medical risks
Fortunately, the medical egg donation risks are fairly minimal. Before receiving an egg donation, you will undergo extensive medical testing to ensure that you are healthy and capable of sustaining a pregnancy. This evaluation helps to eliminate any potential problems that may arise.
The main risk is multiple births. Due to the donor’s young age and the implantation of multiple embryos, your chance of multiples rate is about 40 percent. Of those, about 36.6 percent were twins and 3.7 percent were triplets or greater. In order to reduce egg donation risks with multiples, most IVF programs will only transfer two embryos.
Couples who have longed for a baby may love the idea of two or more babies at the same time but it is important to recognize the risks of a multiple pregnancy. There is a greater chance for a miscarriage (pregnancy loss) or premature delivery.
Preemies can have low birth weight and suffer from medical problems with organ development, brain development and their nerves. Disabilities in the infant are common and there is also a risk of death.
There are complications for the mother of multiple births as well. There is an increased risk for high blood pressure, gestational diabetes, bleeding problems, exaggerated pregnancy symptoms and higher caesarean rates.
And lastly, some fear that HIV can be spread through donor eggs. No cases of this happening have ever been reported nor is it even known if eggs can transmit the virus. Moreover, to reduce potential problems with egg donation risks, egg donors undergo extensive screening to ensure that they do not carry, and thereby spread, any infectious diseases before they become donors.
Achieving your dream of pregnancy
When the chances of conceiving a baby on your own become slim, egg donation can provide you with a wonderful alternative to help you achieve your dream of having a baby.
While all of the potential emotional and medical egg donation risks should be evaluated, this form of reproduction enables you to experience the joy of pregnancy and childbirth as well as have your own child. Professional counseling throughout the egg donation process can be very beneficial to help you and your partner deal with this decision.
Sources: Resolve: The Decision to Use Donor Eggs: Differences Between Men and Women. American Society for Reproductive Medicine: Third Party Reproduction (Sperm, Egg, and embryo donation and surrogacy): A Guide for Patients. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) Report: National Summary. 2007. American Society for Reproductive Medicine: Patient Fact Sheet: Complications and Problems associated with Multiple Births. IntegraMed: Egg Donation 101.
