Disclaimer: Blog post is written based on personal experience. I am not speaking as a medical professional. It is for your reference only.

The egg retrieval procedure is considered in the medical field to be a low-risk minimally-invasive surgery. The actual retrieval process only takes about 20 minutes, but you will be asleep for 45-60 minutes under light IV sedation, so you'll be taking a nap and won't feel anything.

The eggs are retrieved by a needle that goes directly through the vaginal wall and aspirates the eggs from the follicles on your ovaries. They don't actually go through your uterus or fallopian tubes, so that's why women with their with tubes tied can still be donors. If you need something to compare it to, they won't go any deeper than they would in a normal pap smear. There are no nerves inside so when you wake up, you will not feel any pain, just a dull soreness like you did a muscle workout in your abs, as well as menstrual cramping.

Since there are no cuts made or stitches needed, your body will quickly heal on its own. You will only wear a menstrual pad for one day from the spotting you'll have from those needle punctures inside. It's like a day of having light spotting.

You'll be able to walk out from the clinic on your own, but it is recommended you go straight home to rest for the full day. I experienced a lot of abdominal cramps and what felt like "side stitches." Extra Strength Tylenol or Ibuprofen did the trick (prescription strength is 800mg only 2x/day), plus a pillow propped under the knees (to stay in a more fetal-like position), and I really like a heating pad to soothe any aching tummy soreness. You can still get up and walk around. Most donors are able to return to school or work the next day, but you'll still feel sore. By the third day, you'll feel pretty well back to normal, but for a week, you'll still want to take it easy and restrict physical activity just to be safe. I felt comfortable enough to resume exercising a week after my retrievals. One last side effect I experienced was constipation lasting for days or up to a week after my donations and some bloating. Make sure to take a lot of fiber the retrieval week.

So, the retrieval itself is really not anything major, it's actually quite simple. I understand that for most donors, because they are so healthy, they had never had any reason to require a surgery before, and it will be a brand new experience for them. It was for me. But afterward, I was able to think, "What was I so worried about? This feels fine. It wasn't as bad as I thought." Because I expected it to be much worse. Set your expectations high to be safe, because every experience and body can react differently. But compared to other altruistic procedures you could do like bone marrow donation, kidney transplant, or even surrogacy, realize how easy and simple this really is. That's how I justified any pain I might feel, at least I won't be bedridden for weeks to recover from this! ;)