A comparison of oocyte donors and gestational carrier/surrogate attitudes towards third party reproduction.

Looking back: egg donors' retrospective evaluations of their motivations, expectations, and experiences during their first donation cycle

“…In general, studies of U.S. egg donors have indicated high ''postdonation satisfaction rates'' and some willingness to donate again (20,23,(25)(26)(27). First-time donors who had high financial motivations for donating reported being less satisfied with the process and were also less likely to express willingness to donate again (22,23).…”

“…The need for this information is pressing, especially given that 95% of the 422 clinics reporting to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2005 offered egg donation services (1). Most of the retrospective assessments of donors' attitudes conducted in the U.S. rely on donors who had all donated at a single clinic (21,22,27) or assess donor reactions relatively shortly after the donation (19,20,23,26). None of the previously published studies assessed women's expectations about the procedures and how those expectations matched (or failed to match) their actual donation experience.…”

Interests, obligations, and rights of the donor in gamete donation

“…Four levels of donor information sharing can be identified, ranging from basic to comprehensive (Table 1): [1] non-identifying information, [2] non-identifying contact for medical updates, [3] non-identifying personal contact, and [4] identifying information.…”

“…This could include news about whether a pregnancy resulted and a birth occurred, and whether the baby was born healthy. Arguably, programs are not ethically bound to reveal the outcome because [1] donation is equivalent to the blood donation model, whereby the donation is made without regard to the outcome, [2] news of a successful cycle may unexpectedly cause distress to the donor, [3] news of an unsuccessful cycle may cause the donor to develop unwarranted fertility concerns that affect her or his own family planning, and [4] the donor's eggs may result in frozen embryos that may be utilized in a cycle at a time very distant from the original cycle, and the donor may be unprepared to receive this information or the contact may place an undue burden on the clinic. Moreover, as a practical matter, some parts of the outcome would violate the privacy rights of the mother if disclosed involuntarily, such as whether she experienced medical complications during the pregnancy.…”

“…On the other hand, it can be argued that the outcome should be disclosed because [1] in matters as important as reproduction, donors may deserve to know whether their gametes resulted in a pregnancy, [2] knowledge of the outcome could be helpful in the event of planned or unplanned contact from the offspring, [3] knowledge would give donors the opportunity to tell their children about genetic half-siblings, and [4] knowledge of the outcome may help donors put psychological closure on their participation. We encourage programs and clinics in the consent process to give donors the option of learning about whether a child was born.…”