Donor Decisions

Considering Donor Egg & Sperm

By Michele St. Martin

Jean, 31, and Bill, 32, of Graton, Calif., have just chosen their anonymous egg donor and are about to begin the process of in vitro fertilization (IVF) with the donor. Jean and Bill went through a maze of infertility treatments. Initial tests indicated Bill had a low sperm count with poor motility. "My doctor insisted that as long as there were problems indicated with Bill, there was no need to look at me further," says Jean. After changing doctors, Jean discovered that she did not ovulate spontaneously and her FSH level (the measure of ovarian reserve, or the number of eggs a woman has left) was too high for her to have a good chance at pregnancy with her own eggs. Ironically, IVF techniques could overcome Bill's problems, since his sperm were basically normal, but there is no treatment yet for egg problems like Jean's.

Jean says that she and Bill knew that "being childless was not an option." After rejecting adoption for a variety of reasons, they turned to donor eggs. "We felt it was a carrot being dangled in front of our faces a chance for us to experience pregnancy," says Jean. "That's really what made the decision for us we're not ready yet to give up the chance to be pregnant and for the baby to be related to Bill. I think that's more important to men sometimes."

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