A fail anywhere in your donor screening is truly a good thing to know, simply because it makes you aware of an issue that you may have otherwise never known. You can start dealing with it early on and in some cases, reverse it, or at least prevent bad situations from occurring in the future.

Some donors may fail during the psychological screening - perhaps you need to take a closer look at your attitude about life. Talking to a counselor could help you to become a more well-rounded and better person in the future, and for those who surround you in your life.

Some donors may fail during the physical screening - one of our donors learned about an irregular heartbeat she never knew about and is now proceeding with follow-up appointments to see a cardiologist and learn whether this issue could become serious in the future. Learning about it now may save her life down the road and be able to live longer because she was made aware of it early on. Other donors may learn they have a serious cyst on their ovaries that should be removed, or they may be developing endometriosis themselves, or learn that possibly they already have low ovarian reserve. They each have an early chance to do something about it now before it becomes too late - especially if they want to have their own children in the future.

Some donors may fail during the genetic screening - they may be a carrier of a genetic disease and could put their future children at risk. At least these donors know now so that when they are ready to have children of their own, they can see a genetic counselor with their spouse to learn their options of having healthy children. In some cases, as long as they learn the spouse is not a carrier, there is no risk for their children other than to become a carrier of the gene themselves. It's quite possible those donors who learned they are genetic carriers of a bad gene may save themselves from future issues of delivering children with a genetic disease.

So, don't take a fail as such bad news. It will of course be difficult to hear for the first time, and to know that you can't be a donor will be very disappointing, but take it with a grain of salt and learn from it, and do what you can to improve the quality of your life. You could be saving your future offspring, your family, and especially yourself.