So, why did I become a donor?  Honestly, I don't see a reason why anyone would not want to become a donor.  You are doing something great for someone else, that requires very little effort!  As a mother of two beautiful little girls, my heart breaks every time I hear about people not being able to conceive.  Children truly are a blessing!

I thought I would feel weird knowing there could be a child with my DNA running around out there, but instead I feel good.  Really good.  It was an incredibly easy, hormone-filled experience, and by far one of the most fulfilling things I’ve ever done!

Before I became a donor, I thought I had a problem with needles, but it’s been a breeze.

At first, after the first round of injections, my eggs weren't developing as the doctor had hoped and I was given a second dose of injections.  By this time I was wondering if I'd ever be able to donate at all.  And I felt sad.  I know the couple who depended on my eggs saved money for this process for a couple of years, and I didn't want to disappoint them.  I travelled back to the clinic about five times for scans over a 2 week period to check my eggs were developing nicely...  And when I was given a date for egg retrieval, I was overjoyed.  Perhaps due to the fact that I was on stimulation hormones, I got a bit teary with joy.  To know someone was possibly about to become parents from the eggs I was going to donate... eggs that would never have become anything to me... was an amazing feeling!

The day of the egg retrieval came and I wasn't even slightly worried as the doctor and staff at the clinic had been so welcoming and reassuring that I felt relaxed, and I trusted them as I knew I was in good hands... and I was.  I was in the hospital for the egg collection for about five hours, although the collection itself only takes about 30 minutes, I had to remain at the hospital whilst the sedation they gave me wore off.  They collected 8 healthy eggs in total, which was great. I didn't have any problems with side effects afterwards.

The whole way through the donation process, all the people I came into contact with treated me with respect and appreciation for the time and effort I was going through.  Right at the beginning of the process, Jenny from baby2mom sent me lovely flowers, and I was very touched.  For me, donating eggs was something I very much wanted to do, so I didn't mind the effort, but all the same it is very nice to be repeatedly told you are doing a lovely thing.

I want to help as many people in the limited time as allowed.  If I just lose my eggs anyway, why not give the gift of life to a family that is willing to go through so much to have a child to love of their own?

Thank you to  baby2mom and everyone at the Pretoria East Fertility Clinic for allowing me to be a part of something so much bigger than myself!