Female infertility can be treated with various treatment options. Assisted reproductive technology including IVF procedures is a very common infertility treatment. For infertile women who cannot conceive through their egg then advanced ART technology provides the option to use a donor egg to experience parenthood. Currently, the demand for egg donors is increasing significantly to treat female infertility.
One of the less-discussed questions on a donation service is how people recruit potential egg donors and the detailed process of selecting an egg donor, though researchers have provided other details of the egg donation process. The recruitment of egg donors is a global challenge. Egg donation agencies, IVF clinics in developed countries offer a large amount of payment to the egg donor for egg retrieval to meet the demand of the egg donor.
The internet is a very important forum for recruiting egg donors, however, other processes like posters and advertisements in newspapers are also used for egg donor recruitment. The usual reason for egg donation is to supplement the source of income. But the involvement of the payment method in the egg donation process is debatable, as critics believe it increases the scope of exploitation and vulnerability of young women.
The involvement of payment methods may influence the decision of young women as they only consider the financial gain without considering the long-term psychological or medical implications. However, contrasting research results obtains from different sources. For example, some research findings stated that a higher incidence of family trauma and donor exploitation, whereas other research results reported that the donors are psychologically well-adjusted. To avoid such controversies, some countries only allow altruistic donations.
Thorough medical and psychological evaluation of donors is part of the egg donation process. The selected egg donor must undergo ovarian stimulation by administering a series of hormonal therapy. and subsequent collection of egg conducted through sedation. Before the conduction of the clinical procedure for egg retrieval, egg donors must be aware of the associated risk and she needs to sign the written consent form.
In most cases, egg donors prefer to know to whom they donate their eggs and show less interest in an anonymous recipient. Therefore, an egg donor can be recruited through a known donor or advertising for an egg donor. Advertisement is the only option for a couple who is unable to find a family member or friend/acquaintance for an egg donation.
Advertising for an egg donor is permitted for a long back, but the regulations and legislation for advertising egg donors differ from country to country. Accessibility of internet service provides a fast and broader platform for egg donation advertisements. E-mail is an instant message service provider between egg donor and egg donation agencies. But certain specifications must be followed to prepare online egg donor recruitment policies which include
- compliance with the country-specific guidelines on trait-based payment among both clinics and agencies,
- detail the frequency and types of traits desired,
- verification disclosure of risks and minimum age and
- follow the rational steps a potential donor might take through an online search engine that comprises both clinics and agencies she might consider.
Therefore, online egg donor recruitment is a quick-service option, but it should be conducted by maintaining compliance with the guideline.
Ravi Sharma is a self-motivated, successful entrepreneur and has a solid experience in the fertility segment. and he is the director at ARTbaby Global (ARThealthcare). He is a pharmacy graduate with post-graduation in business administration and has 14 years of rich experience in the field of infertility segment. He loves to write about IVF, Surrogacy, and other ART (assisted reproductive technology) news, issues, and updates. He is a Pharmacy graduate (B. Pharm) and M.B.A (marketing).
His most recent success includes the successful launch of the medical tourism company, ARTbaby, which offers treatment options for infertility, egg donation, and surrogacy. He likes spending time with his family and writing about various aspects of IVF surrogacy and donating eggs.