International Egg Donation Agencies in South Africa

 

If you are looking for an international egg donation agency in South Africa, you will find that over the last few years – in response to a growing demand for egg donations around the world – there has been a proliferation of egg donation agencies in South Africa and internationally.

 

In this article, we look at what egg donor agencies are, what is different about international or travel egg donation agencies and how you can make sure that you choose the right egg donation agency.

What are egg donation agencies?

Egg donation agencies play a vital role in making modern fertility treatments possible. For couples who may never have their own child without a donation of healthy, good quality eggs, egg donation agencies offer a great solution.

Egg donation agencies facilitate the important and intricate process of finding suitable egg donors and matching them to the right recipients.

The agencies recruit healthy young women willing to donate their eggs and facilitate the process of matching these selfless donors to egg donation recipients. This also encompasses the initial agency screening of egg donors, assistance with donor contracts and compiling and managing extensive but anonymous egg donor profiles to assist recipient couples to select their match. This profile contains only details about the donor’s physical characteristics, medical background, education, hobbies and more, such as childhood photos, without disclosing the donor’s identity.

Egg donation agencies also support the recipients of an egg donation, including the recipient contract facilitation and supporting recipients during the donor selection and beyond.

Once an egg donor has been chosen, the egg donation agency will also manage the entire process, including the egg donor’s required medical and psychological assessments – and travel arrangements if necessary. This includes an appointment with a fertility specialist for a general check-up, including a scan and required blood tests, as well as an assessment by a psychologist. The egg donation agency also provides support to the egg donor before, during and after the donation cycle.

These services are generally covered by a match and management fee payable by the egg donation recipients.

Bear in mind that most egg donor agencies assist various fertility clinics by recruiting egg donors to donate at these different clinics across South Africa, which means you may end up donating at any fertility clinic in the country.

What are international or travel egg donation agencies?

International or travel egg donation agencies provide the same services, with one exception: the egg donors travel outside South Africa’s borders to donate their eggs. These agencies may offer free travel or higher compensation than what is allowed by law in South Africa, and this does make it sound like a great proposition. However, there are some risks that should be considered.

Is it safe?

While egg donation is a safe procedure if performed correctly by qualified fertility experts in suitable facilities, the reality is that all medical procedures do entail some risk.

South African women travelling internationally to donate their eggs do expose themselves to additional risks. These include, for example, the risk of dealing with an unscrupulous or even fake agency; having the egg retrieval procedure done at a ill-equipped or poorly-staffed clinic; and – if anything does go wrong – finding themselves all alone far away in foreign countries such as Thailand or India.

In South Africa, the Southern African Society of Reproductive Medicine and Gynecological Endoscopy Regulations (SASREG) – a society of fertility experts, drawing on substantial expertise and extensive experience – provides strict guidelines to protect the interests of egg donors and egg donation recipients.

SASREG guidelines specify that egg donation agencies should not canvas donors who wish to travel internationally, or facilitate the travelling of donors outside of South Africa. Donors are allowed to travel within the borders of South Africa in between different cities, if the continuity of medical care is ensured – in other words the donor needs to have easy access to a SASREG accredited clinic after the donation, in case a complication occurs.

Furthermore, extra travelling costs can be charged to the recipient, but these costs must completely transparent to the recipient.

Before choosing to go with any egg donation agency, whether local or international, it is very important to research not only what the egg donation procedure entails but also to do extensive research on the agencies being considered.

Choosing the right egg donation agency

There are many egg donation agencies in South Africa 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.

For example, in South Africa, the National Health Act of 2004 and its regulations – in particular, Chapter 8 on Artificial Fertilization – govern egg donations as well as the activities of egg donation agencies. In addition, SASREG provides strict guidelines and protocol procedures that detail how egg donation agencies can operate legally and ethically, to protect the health and well-being of both the egg donors and the egg donation recipients. You can find out more about SASREG at or email info@sasreg.co.za.

As an egg donor, it is extremely important that you be assured that the clinic at which you donate is a world-class medical facility, dedicated to your care and medical safety.

Also 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 an egg donation agency with a team that will support you throughout the entire egg donation process, and beyond.

We recommend Cape Fertility

At Cape Fertility, we only work with egg donation agencies that follow the SASREG ethical guidelines.

As a SASREG-accredited clinic ourselves, we also have our own egg donation program. In fact, at Cape Fertility, we have been leaders in egg donation for 25 years and have assisted in thousands of egg donations.

During every step of your egg donation at Cape Fertility, you will be cared for by a specialist medical team of fertility specialists, qualified nursing sisters, our resident psychologist and our dedicated egg donor co-ordinator (also known as our Egg Donor Fairy God Mother) Linda. This team has been caring for egg donors’ emotional and medical needs for many years have safely completed thousands of treatments and are dedicated solely to taking the best care possible of our egg donors, before and after their egg donation.

If you don’t live in Cape Town, don’t be concerned that you will not be able to donate with us! If you are selected by a recipient couple, we will arrange for you to come to Cape Town: all your travel and accommodation arrangements will be explained to you and all your expenses will be covered.

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!

 

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