I have gotten this question enough times that I thought I should post an official statement about whether I would recommend being an egg donor.

I had such a positive experience and felt so good about my first donation that I did choose to do it again and again. Even though my first donation resulted in the biggest risk you could face going through this procedure, OHSS, the emotional reward was too strong to wreck my overall experience. I'm very proud that I helped these recipients and I can't imagine that will ever change. I think this is in part because donating for me was mostly for philanthropic reasons, and I didn't really focus much on the money. Compensation was just a nice by-product for doing this.

I also trusted these recipients - that they are financially sound (since they could afford such an expensive procedure), and that they are quite faithful, trusting, patient, and very hard-working to never give up and choose to conceive by an egg donor. Once they are able to have a child, I also feel those children will be the most loved and cherished children in the world. They are a miracle and could never be taken for granted that they exist in their parents' lives.

I would definitely recommend this experience... but not to everyone. There are some women who sign up as donors with the wrong attitude. They want assurance that the recipients are suitable enough to raise "their offspring." That already signifies that the candidate has not emotionally explored this deeply enough. I don't recommend this to anyone who is not seriously committed because they only want the "quick" money. It is okay to need the compensation, I think that's what got all egg donor's attention to begin with. But if you didn't need the money anymore, would you still really consider this or even back out in the middle of a cycle? Do not commit to this if you are a quitter or don't care whether the recipients succeed.

AED needs motivated, responsible, and caring donors. If this is you, I know you will feel great about what you did when it's all over. Once you get to know whether the recipient is successful, you can't help but feel elated! You've just left a big ripple in society... the world will be affected forever with the existence of a new family unit that you helped to create.