I'm going to get screened. I'm on a plane for a screening to donate my eggs. How do you tell that to the twentysomething guy next to you on the plane wondering where you're headed and why? They'll take lots of blood and do a vaginal ultrasound and exam. They'll set me up with a social worker to make sure I understand the process. I'll be taught how to inject myself with needles and I will be given a full psych. screening. Then they'll send me home on another plane.

I'm declared reproductively fit several days later, and they send me my meds and syringes through the mail. The first time I stick myself with a needle it's frightening. I stood in front of the mirror, squeezing some tummy fat between my thumb and my middle finger, and held the syringe like they taught me- like a dart. The skin was thicker than I imagined. Tough. It didn't even hurt. All of that work up for nothing.

The hormones didn't affect me the way I thought they would. Avram claims I was a little bitchy, but what does he know? I was just fine. I was monitored in my state for several days, which means every other morning I had to go to a clinic near my home to have my blood drawn. The woman at this clinic screwed up the vein in my right arm on the first stick. I don't know if she was a newbie or what, but I had a bruise in a 4 inch radius from the needle stick. They had to use my left arm after that, which meant I looked like a heroin addict by the time it was all over.

After several days of this, they flew Avram and I to the clinic and gave us a retrieval date. Every morning was the same thing, blood draw, ultrasound. It took up about an hour of my time in the morning. Sitting in the waiting room was strange. All around me were women and their husbands there for treatment. I felt almost...guilty. One morning an older woman struck up a conversation, asked me what kind of treatment I was there for- IUI? IVF? "Oh, I'm donating my eggs...", I said. She thanked me over and over, which sort of embarrassed me. Didn't she realize I was getting paid? This wasn't just out of the goodness of my heart. I mean, some of it was, but I wasn't doing this for free. It wasn't even that bad, this whole donation process.

In fact, we were having a great time. The kids were staying with my mom, and Avram and I were going out on the town.  We had a rental car, so we were mobile. It was almost like a vacation, except for the egg donation part. The food was great and we kept ourselves busy. Avram had bought those "Tour X" books you have on different cities that list all of the attractions. He planned out our days and nights. We went to movies, visited some friends that landed in the area, toured some touristy sites and did a lot of sleeping.

As my ovaries started to swell, they hurt. My egg retrieval was moved up based on how my ovaries were responding. On the morning of the retrieval, my ovaries felt like soccer balls. They put me under and that felt wonderful. Warm and fuzzy. When I woke up my IV was streaming blood. I tried to speak, but I couldn't and the nurse was talking to someone. I eventually let out a sound that got her over there and they fixed it. They gave me crackers and juice. Avram pulled the car around, and I got in, very, very sleepy. 

We flew home two days later. I was relieved and so excited to see the kids again. My compensation check came in the mail after about a week. That was nice. It was in my contract that I had the right to know what happened with the donation. Apparently they conceived. Good for them. I have recommended egg donation to my friends. It's a quick way to make some extra money- pay for that spring break trip or pay down your student loans. I know a girl who has donated 6 times, earning each time between 3 and 8K. She paid for an entire semester in the UK. And all she had to do was give up a couple of eggs.

Since then, some I have talked with have hinted that perhaps this is unethical. Either I was exploited by the intended parents (how could it be known what kind of future impact this could have on me?) or the intended parents were exploited by me (how dare I charge them for my services?). I reject either of those notions. Of course there is a thread of generousity in all of this. I wanted her to get pregnant. I wanted to help her have a baby. I have never experienced what it's like to want a baby and not be able to have one, and I'm sure it must feel terrible. She had been trying to get pregnant for years. She deserved it.

But once all of that is stripped away, what essentially occurred was a business transaction. I had what the parents wanted- healthy, young, fertile eggs. The parents had what I wanted- money. Shouldn't we be allowed to trade? I wouldn't have donated if I wouldn't have been paid. In fact, I went out of state to donate because in my state the going rate for eggs is half of what it is elsewhere. I've spoken with several other egg donors, and women my age just have better things to do than donate their eggs in their spare time for free. So, if egg donors weren't paid, you probably wouldn't have many egg donors.

Also, if egg donors weren't paid, potential parents would probably have fewer quality donors to choose from. When I filled out 20+ pages of application and sent in the pictures of myself, all of my information was put in a database. The potential parents go through this database and pick who they want to be half of their child's genetic material. It's a big deal. They get to pick who is attractive to them. They get to select. So, paying egg donors benefits both parties.

Egg donation was a positive experience for me. I made some money and helped someone have a baby. Like I said, I have recommended it to friends. No one has taken me up on it yet, but we'll see.