Egg donation may close ovary if excessive
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Excessive donation of eggs by women may cause their ovaries to shut down, making it impossible for them to bear their own children.
Fertility experts warn that women who donate their eggs more than six times are at risk of serious health complications, including the shutting down of their ovaries.
Egg donation is used in assisted reproduction and treatment of infertility in women who are not able to produce their own eggs, but experts warn that when overdone, it can be a big risk to the donor.
Dr. Adeleke Daramola, a fertility expert, said the ovaries of a donor can shut down due to the hormonal injections that such egg donors are given repeatedly.
“Due to the fact that ladies who volunteer to donate are under injections, it is not advisable for them to donate more than six times in their lifetime.
“Because if they donate more than that, those hormonal injections can take over their system and can cause total shutdown of their ovaries,” he told PUNCH Healthwise.
“You know, they also have a future and it might be difficult for them to have their own children when they are ready. We normally advise them against going everywhere to donate. They shouldn’t donate more than six times in their lifetime.”
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Increase in egg donation
Daramola disclosed that there is an increase in the number of women who donate eggs very often and expressed concern that such donations can affect their lives.
“The problem now is that most girls nowadays, maybe they are too generous or they are okay with the compensation being given to them, they like to donate more and more often and that can affect them.”
He canvassed a limit to the number of times a woman can donate her eggs.
Dr. Toyin Ajayi, Managing Director of Bridge Fertility Clinic, acknowledged that donation of eggs by women is an altruistic thing done to help couples trying to achieve fertility.
But she cautioned that women, especially young women, should be aware of the risks of excessive donation.
According to her, it is not a good practice for fertility clinics to consider donations from women who have donated more than the required number of times in their lives, even though there is currently no local law stopping repeated donation.
Both Daramola and Ajayi disclosed that fertility experts can screen any intended donor to know if she has donated several times.
They said screening helps disqualify people who have over-donated as physicians do not want a situation where a donor no longer has eggs to produce her own children.