ABC WORLD NEWS TONIGHT~03/28/08~DONOR EGGS SHOULD RECIPIENTS BE TOLD EVERYTHING ABOUT DONOR'S PAST & FAMILY?

[Jackson_Angel]

IT'S ON 6:32PM EST ~ FYI~

[40smama]

thanks, prayerful wife.  Those are very sweet comments & very supportive.  Alright - my donor's history went back to grandparents/great grandparents but generally not much is known about the great grandparents.  If you were having a biological child w/your partner, do you think you would know everything about him or even yourself?  How many of us know about people who lived two generations ago?

I too didn't  have a pic - just a physical description.  I never even thought of getting pics of the family.  My dh and I were more concerned w/medical & social histories.  It's definitely a leap of faith (as most things are) as Luci said.

My goal was to have a healthy pregnancy & baby & I know my best chances lied in using donor eggs due to my age.  In my case, I'd be taking a far greater chance of something being wrong w/the baby if I had used my own.  It is a very personal decision - not one to be made lightly.  

[prayerful wife]

I wanted to tell all of you ladies I think you've made a bold and wonderful decision to use donor eggs.  I know it wasnt an easy choice and of course you wont know every detail of the donors family, but I'm sure that will never deminish the love and admiration you all feel for your little ones!  My hats off to you.

[babyprayers]

I had pictures of the donor but not the family, the history covered as I said above, I guess when you want a baby bad enough you go with what you got, Alot of people I have talked with on other boards about donor eggs, always went for the blonde haired blue eyed 125 pound gir, Sometimes I think you just have to take that leap of faith. I am not hear to gear you one way or another for using donor egss, it is a very personsal choice, I will say, My thoughs and feelings were, I have this oppertunity, let me use it to my advantage to get the baby I want, and not be so critical on what the donor looks like.

[Jackson_Angel]

How far back do they give you the health information in the family ~ did you get pictures of not only the donor but other family members ~ ..??.. The "clinic" I go to doesn't offer pictures of the donor, etc., but said we could think about going elsewhere to get the donor eggs that they would use ~ ..??..

[40smama]

The screening process is very, very extensive for donors (at least it was in our situation).  Not every possible thing however can be known to the receipient families but at least in our case, major physical & mental illnesses are covered by extensive medical history.  From what I understand, most women applying to be a donor will be rejected because of medical/famiily history.  I cannot emphasize it enough:  there are no sure things in this world whether you have your own biological child or receive donor eggs/sperm or adopt.  There's no guarantees even that your baby will even be born healthy.  I agree w/Luci, all of our choices are in God's hands & we trust Him to take care of us and our child or in Luci's case - children. - jennifer

[babyprayers]

I agree 100% with you that using donor eggs is indeed very scarey, I know because I did and I am now pregnant with twins, 17 weeks 5 days. It took alot of thought on both my DH and my part. The place I used has a full history of the donor and her family, including parents grandparents and siblings, that is accessible to read, The biggest reason I chose my donor, was because she had put in her profile, she would always be available if the need arose, such as organ donation, any illness that needed direct contact with the bio mother. On the flip side, your right depression and other scarey things can run in families and you just never know, although I looked at it like this, you could meet someone fall in love get married, and have babies, and never know that their sister, aunt, cousin etc.. was a schizophrenic, bipolar etc.. I guess I just put this all in gods hands.. I wish you the best in whatever choice you make.

Luci

[Jackson_Angel]

PER ABC ~ Wendy Kramer ~ ask about donors ~ http://www.****.com/
Mentioned the fact that a woman who donated her eggs was diagnosed with colon cancer that is hereditary four years later....exactly why I am SO hesitant to go that route ~ you don't know if there's relatives of axe murderers or not ~ really scary ~