Egg Donation and Surrogacy

New York State’s 11-year, $600 million stem cell research initiative was approved as part of last year’s state budget; now labs can pay women to donate their eggs for research.  We are not sure yet what portion of the budget will fund the study of human oocytes (eggs), how the oocyte donors will be recruited, and how much the donors will be paid (although compensation will be within limits set by the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM).

The full text of the resolution and public statement can be found on the NYSTEM website, “ESSCB Statement on the Compensation of Oocyte Donors” (New York State Stem Cell Science).

We will continue to post on this issue as we learn more.

I review about one hundred egg donor applications a week. Of those I receive, only about three or four get posted on our database. Some very good candidates never get posted because we don’t have good photos of them. Even the best candidates cannot be matched without good photos.

We just added “Photo Submission Guidelines” to our Information for Egg Donors and Egg Donor Application pages so donors can have a better understanding of how the photos should look.

Photos are required to post on your profile for recipients to view. Photos are essential to attracting prospective recipients to your profile. Recipients use photos to evaluate the donor’s resemblance to them, the donor’s attractiveness, and the donor’s demeanor, temperament, “vibe,” “energy,” or whatever you want to call it. So three important qualities are required of every photo: it needs to be clear, flattering, and show you with a pleasing expression.

I can’t tell you how many photos I receive that show candidates carousing in a dark bar (with a beer in her hand!) among a crowd of people, taken on a cellphone with an unflattering view up the nostrils and out of focus, in a ski suit and goggles or Halloween costume that conceal all her features, taken inside a dark, messy room with a flash that makes the eyes red and the complexion washed out, taken so close-up it’s scary, showing the donor with a funny face, a scowl, or her tongue sticking out, taken when she’s just rolled out of bed and her hair’s a mess and she looks half asleep, cropped out of a group shot with a resolution so low you can barely see a thing: the list goes on and on. Photos like these will never attract recipients to your profile, no matter how pretty and smart you are.

What we are looking for is not so difficult to provide. Both headshots and full body shots should show you alone in natural light. The resolution should be high; each shot should be well lit and in focus. The backdrops should be pleasant and not distracting. Expressions should be smiling and pleasant. Amateur photos are fine as long as they meet these criteria. Have a friend take some for you if necessary.

Egg donor photos are not so different from dating service photos: they serve to attract a match.

Northeast Assisted Fertility Group has been featured in a front page story in the Boston Globe, dated April 7, 2009.  This is just the latest in what has been an ongoing public dialogue about the “surge” in egg donation.

Boston Globe: “Recession spurs egg and sperm donations”
“What we’ve seen is [...] Continue Reading…

Discussing Madonna’s adoption of another child from Malawi with Jane Velez-Mitchell, around 7:25 PM.

Go to CNN.com for a transcript.

See the article, “Egg donors rise as U.S economy falls”.
“Remember that egg donation helps a lot of people; it is safe if done by a professional, medically-ethical clinic.  It helps the donor, and it helps the recipients have a child.”
- Kathy Benardo, Northeast Assisted Fertility Group

Of course, only you can make a decision about your child. But in my experience, openness and honesty is rewarded with respect. On the other hand, secrecy and deception fosters anger and resentment.

Your child will love you no less with the knowledge about his or her conception. It does [...] Continue Reading…

CNN has run an article, “Six embryos?! How to avoid a fertility fiasco” which spotlights the birth of octuplets to Nadya Suleman last month, and the picture this has painted of fertility clinics.

This article demonstrates how important the ASRM’s guidelines are in keeping fertility treatment safe as well as [...] Continue Reading…

It was a shock to learn that “Octo Mom” got pregnant with all those babies through IVF (in vitro fertilization) rather than just IUI (intrauterine insemination): what doctor would transfer all those embryos? Unfortunately, there are a few unethical doctors out there who make the industry look like a [...] Continue Reading…

Saturday’s feature of Northeast Assisted Fertility Group’s egg donation program on CBS’ The Early Show (”As Economy Falls, Egg Donations Rise”) was not unlike other coverage we’ve seen about the “surge” in egg donation… the faltering economy compels more and more young women to consider becoming egg donors - [...] Continue Reading…

Katherine Benardo, director of the egg donation program at Northeast Assisted Fertility Group, will be among the panelists on CBS’ Early Show this Saturday morning.  There will also be an egg donor candidate and a doctor (Dr. Zeke Emanuel, brother of White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel) for [...] Continue Reading…