Donor Egg Treatment can actually be a gift to your child
15th November 2019
For many patients, the most daunting part of donor egg treatment is selecting a donor. While it can be a complex and emotional task, it can also be an exciting time. Here at SGF we encourage you to look at choosing your egg donor to be an opportunity.
What gift do you want to give your child?
Gilbert L. Mottla, M.D., Shady Grove Fertility’s Ireland Donor Egg Programme Director, has a truly wonderful take on choosing an egg donor. He says, “Choosing an egg donor is a truly unique life opportunity. You as the recipient have the chance to potentially give your child a gift that you may have not been able to give otherwise. Most couples look for a donor with similar physical characteristics, but there may be opportunity to pass along aptitudes or abilities possessed by your donor. If you are athletically challenged or math challenged, you have the ability to choose a donor that may have those attributes in their DNA. Choose an engineer, choose an athlete, choose a musician. Try to find that gift you want to give your child and your choice of donors may just do that. ”
All our egg donors are required to write essays about themselves so that you, as the recipient, can truly understand their identity.
Quality Egg Donors
Due to our excellent reputation and high standards, Shady Grove Fertility has nearly 16,000 applicants each year but only 3 percent of women pass our screening to become an egg donor. Our egg donors are required to complete two written applications where they provide details about their education, careers, goals, and family history before advancing to medical screening. “We look carefully at a prospective donor’s medical history, family history, ovarian reserve, drug screening, infectious disease testing, autosomal recessive gene testing (a panel of 100 tests), and psychological screening—via an individual professional counseling session as well as with an objective mental health instrument, the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI). In return, we encourage our recipients to be equally selective about the donor that they are comfortable with. There is no pressure on them to pick a donor,” explains Michael J. Levy, M.D., Shady Grove Fertility’s UK Donor Egg Programme Director.
At the heart of our programme is the desire to help you to build your family, and we will be with you every step of the way. Finding a donor doesn’t have to be an intimidating experience. It’s a chance to give your child a truly special gift.
To learn more about the Shady Grove Fertility’s International Donor Egg Treatment Programme or for help on choosing an egg donor, please reach us by phone at 0208 003 0827 or email Amanda Segal, International Patient Liaison, at [email protected].