Can You Put a Price to Egg Donation?

There are so many women around the world today facing the heartbreak of not being able to have their own babies, because their own eggs are too few or of too poor quality to conceive naturally. This can happen for so many reasons, including being older than 35 (what is called advanced maternal age), diseases like cancer and the treatment thereof including chemotherapy and radiation, and even genetic factors.

A priceless gift

Without a healthy egg, there is no chance of having a baby. For women who cannot conceive with their own eggs, the only hope of conceiving and carrying their own babies, is a few healthy eggs donated by a young woman with a big heart.

These donors are young, healthy women who donate a few of their eggs to help other women experience the joy of conceiving, carrying and birthing a child. There is no way ever of putting a price on a gift like that!

In addition, egg donors cannot be paid for the eggs themselves. International law prohibits payment for any live human matter, including human eggs and sperm. Similarly, South African law prohibits the payment, offer of payment, or advertising of payment for eggs, within South Africa.

It is important to understand that you are NOT selling your eggs. You are making a donation – much like a donation of blood or time, but instead it is a donation of an egg: a priceless gift for a woman who would otherwise never know the joy of conceiving and carrying her own baby.

An egg donation also requires quite a bit more time and involvement than say, a blood donation or an hour volunteering. So, to assist you in making the commitment, you are compensated for the expense and time getting to and from the clinic for your appointments and egg donation day and for reasonable expenses.

In South Africa, egg donors are compensated the national regulated amount of R8000 per egg donation and irrespective of how many eggs are produced. At the Cape Fertility Egg Donor Program, we make your R8000 payment directly to you, on the day of, and directly after, your donation.

Acceptable price

In South Africa, the financial compensation egg donors are permitted to receive is R8000 per donation cycle. This basic financial compensation, given the time and involvement required, discourages egg donations merely for money.

Healthy women who meet the criteria can also only donate up to six times, over an extended period of time.

Understanding the time and involvement required through the egg donation process helps to put the R8000 compensation into perspective.

Here is how we at Cape Fertility have streamlined the process for our highly valued egg donors:

* Completing a quick and confidential medical questionnaire will ascertain your suitability as an egg donor

* If you are suitable to donate eggs, we compile an anonymous and confidential Egg Donor Profile for you

* When a couple requiring an egg donation selects your profile, you will need to attend a 2-hour appointment for:
– meeting one of our fertility specialists and our psychologist
– understanding the full egg donation procedure
– asking any questions and discussing all concerns
– having detailed medical examination, including routine investigations
– undergoing a psychological assessment

* The actual egg donation cycle starts with 10-12 days of fertility injections

* Over this two-week period, you will need to attend four doctor’s appointments for regular ultrasounds

* On egg retrieval day, donors are required to take a full day off work or daily activities. A mild general anaesthetic ensures donors sleep, without experiencing any pain, during the 30-minutes procedure which involves no cutting, stitches or scarring. After the procedure, our donors stay in recovery for about 1 hour before being taken home.

Clearly, donating eggs require more time and involvement than, for example, donating blood or sperm, or volunteering your time for an hour or two. The compensation paid recognises that egg donors – the selfless women who are willing to donate their eggs to help another woman become a mother – go above and beyond what the average person is willing to give.

For this reason, it is right that donors are compensated for their giving a considerable amount of time and effort, and to cover any expenses they may incur in making this substantial donation that can help another experience the joy of their own baby.

By law, egg donors in South Africa can be compensated for reasonable expenses – such as travel expenses for getting to and from the clinic for the various appointments, medications, consultations, examinations, blood tests and for the procedure on egg donation day, all of which require time, effort and commitment from the donor.

At Cape Fertility Clinic, we make sure your donation does not involve any costs to you!

Donate eggs only at a clinic that values your health and safety

If you decide to become one of the amazing women who are willing to donate a few of their eggs, your health and safety should be of paramount importance.

Fortunately, egg donation is legal and widely practiced in South Africa, governed by strict national laws and international best practice.

The best way to ensure your safety is to make certain you donate only at a reputable, certified and registered fertility clinic with an excellent track record. Visit the South African Society of Reproductive Medicine and Gynaecological Endoscopy (SASREG) at https://sasreg.co.za/ for a list of accredited clinics.

At Cape Fertility, one of the largest and most reputable fertility clinics in South Africa and registered with SASREG, you will be cared for by specialist fertility doctors and nurses, who have been looking after egg donors for many years and have safely completed thousands of previous treatments. Attention to the medical safety of our egg donors during the procedure is our primary concern.

Our Egg Donor Fairy God Mother, Linda, is ready to answer any questions you may have about the compensation or safety issues to consider when donating eggs. Linda has many years of experience supporting egg donors and a wealth of information to share. She will gladly answer your questions and guide you further in giving the gift of a lifetime.

Simply fill in your contact details here, or contact Linda on 072 698 7919 or linda@capefertility.co.za. Your information is 100% confidential and will under no circumstances be made available to anybody else.

And remember: even if you do not live in Cape Town, don’t worry… when you are selected to donate, we will arrange for you to travel to Cape Town, at no charge to yourself!