For people struggling to conceive, starting a family can be a long difficult and emotional journey. Altruistic egg donation can offer hope – a chance to create a family through the kindness of others.
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We spoke to Alison Bagshawe, founder of Altrui, who specialises in finding and looking after altruistic egg donors in the UK, about some of the reasons why women act out of pure selflessness to donate eggs and a precious, life-changing gift.
- They have a friend or relative with fertility issues and so recognise there is a need.
- Women who have had their own babies will often donate so those who can’t have children are given an opportunity to experience having a child.
- If a woman is not intending to have a family of their own, she may feel like she ‘doesn’t want it all to go to waste’ so to speak and is happy to let someone else use her eggs.
- If a woman has been sterilised and her own family is complete, donation is a way of helping others.
- Surrogacy is a much more involved and intense experience for some and so egg donation is a great option for them.
- A woman may have had IVF treatment herself and wants to give something back.
- Some women donate to pay it forward as they may need help one day and would like to think someone would be there to help them too.
- Donors may be scientifically interested ie. Biology students.
- Women may have heard about donation and thought, ‘Wow! I could do that!’
- It’s genuine altruism just like blood, breast milk, kidney and bone marrow donation.
For more about Altrui, please visit www.altrui.co.uk or call 01969 667875.