Donating Eggs?
Make Sure You Choose a SASREG Egg Donation Agency!
In this article we explain what SASREG accreditation means, why a SASREG accredited egg donation agency should be your only choice, and how to find the right SASREG accredited egg donation agency in South Africa.
Perhaps the most crucial link in a successful egg donation is the egg donor agencies or egg donation agencies that play an important role in making the right match between egg donors and egg donation recipients, as well as protecting the rights and interests of both donors and recipients.
Without egg donations from selfless healthy young women, these couples will be unable to have their own child. Egg donation agencies are an important link between these couples and egg donors, and – where these egg donor agencies adhere to the laws, regulations and guidelines set out to ensure legal and ethical practices – also play an important role in protecting the donors as well as the donor recipients.
What are egg donor agencies?
Egg donor agencies or egg donation agencies are companies that recruit young, healthy and altruistic women who are willing to donate their eggs to a couple facing fertility challenges and who are unable to conceive their own child without healthy, good quality donated eggs. These egg donors are then matched to egg donation recipients by the egg donor agencies.
Your fertility specialist will be able to provide you with a list of egg donation agencies.
Why are egg donation agencies necessary?
Over the last few years, there has been a significant growth in the number of egg donor agencies or egg donation agencies in South Africa and around the world, as the demand for egg donations grow rapidly year after year.
This is a result of the fact that, worldwide, more couples – as many as 1 in 6! – are facing fertility challenges. Among the most common reasons for these fertility challenges is poor egg quality. The reality is that modern lifestyles negatively impact the quality of women’s eggs, and the quality of a woman’s eggs also diminish with age – and quite drastically after age 35 – affecting many women who have delayed starting a family until later in their lives.
The legal requirements for egg donation
Egg donation is legal in South Africa, and it is good to know that we also have amongst the best egg donation laws in the world.
Locally, the legislation on egg donation is published in the National Health Act and protects you – the donor, as well as the recipient. In particular, Chapter 8 on Artificial Fertilization of the National Health Act and regulations, govern the activities of egg donation agencies.
Ethical guidelines governing egg donation agencies
Egg donor agencies must also abide by the SASREG egg donation guidelines as published in 2008.
SASREG is the Southern African Society of Reproductive Medicine and Gynaecological Endoscopy, a society of fertility experts.
Drawing on substantial expertise and extensive experience of its members, SASREG provides strict guidelines and protocol procedures to ensure egg donation agencies operate legally and ethically, and to protect the interests of egg donors and egg donation recipients.
How SASREG’s guidelines protect egg donors
Firstly, SASREG requires that egg donation agencies provide complete and full information to egg donors and recipients.
This includes ensuring that egg donors are fully briefed about the process of egg donation, including the possible risks and side effects. In addition, when recruiting egg donors, the driving force should always be altruistic reasons, and any reimbursements or compensation provided to egg donors should not be used as motivation.
Secondly, egg donation agencies must protect the anonymity of both the donor and the donor recipient.
This means that no identifying information, including adult photos, may be passed between donors and donor recipients, no meetings between donors and recipients are allowed, and no contact will be allowed between the donor and the potential child in the future.
Thirdly, egg donation agencies must take care of their egg donors overall physical and reproductive health.
What this means is that egg donors must undergo a psychological assessment before their donations. In addition, back-to-back donations are not allowed, and egg donors may not make more than four egg donations within a twelve-month period, or more than six donations in total. Furthermore, where donors travel between different cities within South Africa, the egg donation agency must ensure continuity of medical care, which means that the donor must have easy access to a SASREG accredited clinic after the donation, in case a complication occurs.
Finally, SASREG guidelines stipulate that only a fertility clinic can reimburse an egg donor – no financial transactions are allowed between the egg donor and the egg donation agency, or between a fertility clinic and an egg donation agency.
For all these reasons, ethical fertility clinics will work only with egg donation agencies that follow the SASREG ethical guidelines. If you are ready to donate, you too should only choose an egg donation agency accredited by SASREG.
How to choose a SASREG-accredited egg donation agency
Since egg donation is legal in South Africa, there are many local egg donation agencies to choose from. It is crucial that you choose an egg donation agency that complies with the relevant laws and also operates in line with the highest ethical standards.
The first step to choose the right egg donor agency to make your donation is to ensure that the agency or agencies you are considering are accredited with SASREG. This provides assurance that the guidelines as detailed above are followed by the egg donation agency to protect you.
Egg donor agencies who abide by the regulations as set out by SASREG may advertise on their websites that they do work according to the ethics set out in the regulations by SASREG. You can find out more about SASREG at sasreg.co.za or email info@sasreg.co.za.
It is also important to choose an egg donation agency with extensive expertise and experience, as well as positive reviews from other egg donors and egg donation recipients alike. In addition, give preference to a team that will support you throughout the entire egg donation process, and beyond.
Find the right SASREG accredited egg donation programme
At Cape Fertility, we only work with agencies that follow the SASREG ethical guidelines. As a SASREG accredited clinic, we also have our own premium egg donation program with the option of both fresh or frozen eggs.
By joining the Cape Fertility Egg Donor Program, you join the medical facility directly without going through an egg donor agency. At Cape Fertility, we have been leaders in egg donation for 25 years and have assisted in thousands of egg donations.
To find out more, simply fill in your contact details here, or contact our Egg Donor Fairy God Mother, 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.
We look forward to welcoming you to our friendly, professional and leading Egg Donor Program!