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ABSTRACT
Objective
To explore the experiences of known egg donors and recipients in order to inform counselling practise.
Background
Relatively little is known about known egg donation as a form of family-building in the UK, and on the experiences of individuals who have sought this form of donation. As such, there is a lack of guidance for fertility counselling in this area.
Method
This was a cross-sectional, qualitative study. A purposive sample of four recipient women were recruited via a national support group for women experiencing Premature Ovarian Insufficiency (POI). Known egg donors (n = 3) and recipient men (n = 3) were recruited via a snowball sample, as identified by recipient women. In-depth interviews were conducted with participants. Interviews were transcribed and analysed using thematic analysis.
Results
Four themes were generated from the data: 1) ‘Doing anything’: existing relationships as the motivation to donate; 2) ‘It was my duty’: feelings of obligation to donate and to receive; 3) ‘Woman-to-woman’: a woman-centred experience; and 4) ‘Going through this together’: changed versus unchanged relationships.
Conclusions
The study highlights a number of implications in known egg donation, arising from the relationships involved. It is recommended that these implications are considered by infertility counsellors in the provision of counselling, and by those undergoing known egg donation when seeking information and support, before, during and after the donation.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank the ten individuals who were willing to share their personal experiences of known egg donation. Thank you also to Eric Blyth and Ruth Deery for their feedback on early drafts of the paper.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.