“Infertility wasn’t on my radar but after my sister had a miscarriage a few years back, and more recently a colleague of mine underwent IVF, it set me thinking.
“A lot of people grow up assuming they’ll be able to have children and yet people don’t talk about the problems they have in conceiving or carrying a child to term.
“It’s a really hard thing and can tear people apart. There’s a lot of quiet, hidden suffering that’s going on and just not being mentioned.
“I know that I don’t want children myself and reasoned that if I’ve got something I’m not using, why wouldn’t I want to give it to somebody else if it can bring so much joy?
“My eggs were something that I was not using. For me they’re just cells in my body but the potential they offer for somebody else was mind-blowing.”
After spotting an ad on Facebook for the Bristol Centre for Reproductive Medicine (BCRM) Rebecca sent off for more information and just four months later she was donating her eggs.
“I contacted the clinic to get a bit more information about what it all involved and quite quickly decided it was something I wanted to do. Nothing they told me put me off.
“I had to go in for some initial tests, which fortunately were fine, and had a session with an independent counsellor to make sure I understood what I was doing.
“Everybody at BCRM was absolutely lovely. I felt completely in control of the situation and was told if I had a change of heart at any point that would be no problem.”
Ahead of the procedure Rebecca had to self-administer hormone injections at home and attend the clinic for regular ultra-sound checks.
“I’m not a fan of needles but the injections didn’t actually bother me at all. The needles are so thin that you can barely feel them. I’ve never seen anything that small.
“Happily, the medication didn’t cause any mood swings. I did feel a bit bloated towards the end, but it wasn’t unbearable or unpleasant, just a bit uncomfortable.”
Rebecca made the decision not to tell her friends or family until after she had made her decision to go ahead with procedure.
“I didn’t see it as a decision that affected anybody else. I was single at the time. I didn’t want anybody to try and talk me out of it. And nobody did.
“I’m quite good at choosing friends who have the same kind of values as me, and everyone was really supportive.
“Even my parents who are desperate for me to have children – but my siblings have got kids, so that’s fine – were okay about it.
“My mum was a bit upset, worried that I was making this decision and they wouldn’t be my children but they would have my genes, and she’d never get to see them.
“But she was really proud of me for doing it, and she and my dad came to pick me up from the hospital after the operation.
“I found the whole process so fulfilling. From the first call, until after the actual procedure, everybody was incredibly pleasant, incredibly grateful.”
Rebecca says she is looking forward to being informed if her eggs result in successful pregnancies and is happy to connect with any children should they want to contact her when they are 18.
“It would be their decision. I think it’s important for people to try to understand where they’ve come from. I’d be open to having that conversation with them. I think I’d find it really interesting.”
For many women being offered donated eggs may be their only hope of having a baby
BCRM’s dedicated Egg Donation Team can provide all the information a potential donor might need to help decide if she wishes to donate some of her eggs. We are also there to support our donors every step of the way. To find out more visit here, email for more information: [email protected] or click here to apply Egg Donor Application Form
