Patti Gunderson/MCT

Couples who have difficulties conceiving a child have several alternative options to raise a family, one of which is in vitro fertilization.

Nation Wide Egg Donation, an Idaho-based agency that connects couples with female ovum donors, works with nationwide clinics that perform in vitro fertilization, former ovum donor and NWED president Tiffany Valentine said.

NWED recruits women between the ages of 21 and 30 to donate their ova in return for monetary compensation.

How does it work?
During monthly menstruation, the ovaries release 10 to 20 follicles – the cluster of cells that surrounds each ovum. Valentine said NWED retrieves only the follicles released during a donor’s single menstrual cycle.

Donors are required to self-administer fertility shots up to twice a day for two weeks. The injections contain Fertinex, Follistim or Gonal-f, all of which are follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) recombinant drugs. The FSH injections stimulate as many follicles as possible to become dominant instead of the single dominant follicle during normal menstruation. This gives a couple more than one chance to become pregnant, Valentine said.

“You’re just flushing your eggs anyway,” she said. “This way you can give the gift of a child. It’s a beautiful thing.”

According to the NWED Web site, it is preferred that donors travel to the clinic of the couple’s choice for egg retrieval. The couple is responsible for all travel costs.

With NWED, the entire process is an eight-week commitment. NWED’s Web site lists recovery time at about two weeks.

What’s in it for me?
Freshman Abbie Bowen said she would donate ova despite her aversion to injections and having read that the procedure is painful.

“Sure I would – you can get paid a lot of money,” she said. “I don’t know if I’d want my children running around without me knowing about them. I think it’s good if (the eggs) are used for couples with fertility problems.”

All donors begin at $5,000 compensation per cycle, Valentine said. She said Eastern Indian, Chinese and Japanese donors are in high demand and typically start above the $5,000 mark. “Proven donors” receive higher compensation (up to $10,000) for future donations.

Depending on the donor, eggs can be retrieved as many as 10 times, with three months between each cycle, Valentine said.

College-educated donors are in particular demand, Valentine said.

“(Obtaining a degree) shows strive and dedication,” she said. “As a parent, if I had to pick from five donors who looked the same, I would go with one with a higher education.”

Freshman Emily Wagner disagreed.

“Just because someone’s not educated doesn’t mean someone isn’t driven,” she said, using a restaurant employee who works overtime as an example. “I don’t necessarily agree with that.”

Women interested in donating should log on to the NWED Web site, www.nationwideeggdonation.com, for more information or to fill out an application, Valentine said.

Too good to be true?
Bloating is the most common side effect of the procedure, just as with normal menstruation, Valentine said.

She said the only other significant side-effect is Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome (OHSS), a rare response to the FSH injections that results in an over-production of eggs.

“I’ve only seen one case of that in the seven years I’ve been (at NWED),” she said.

In the case of OHSS, the donor is hospital ized for monitoring and rehydration. The syndrome clears up within a week, Valentine said.

“They’re not donating anything that will take away (from future fertility),” she said. “What we’ve seen, it’s their biological time clock (that causes infertility), not because they were a donor.”

Valentine said she thinks many females shy away from donating because they are uninformed about the process or are unnerved by the idea of their offspring growing up in another family.

“There are so many kids in the (foster) system now that I think adoption should be the first thought,” sophomore Margie Berg said. “I understand both sides of the argument – that a woman would want to experience pregnancy. . There are just better alternatives.”