Legislation governing human tissue donation in South Africa enforces anonymity and confidentiality for donors. This works in favour of both the donors and recipients. Confidential egg donation protects all parties and enables a safe and trusted conception process in a highly delicate matter.
Because the process of egg donation involves a far more invasive and intimate process for woman over sperm donation, appropriate controls are in place to render the much required support. Egg donors register with a professional egg donor agency who can provide the necessary information and guidelines to proceed with confidential egg donation. Only public information pertaining to an egg donor's profile is made available to potential recipients upon an enquiry to view the egg donor database.
A high level screening is undertaken as part of the application process and further medical and psychological screening assessments are undertaken before an egg donor program is confirmed. Donor eggs are usually in a fresh IVF cycle as the egg donor's timing has especially been planned and arranged prior to the egg donor program. Donor sperm is kept in quarantine to ensure it meets necessary health requirements. Also a sperm donor is able to produce his donor gametes after a short period of time and without any medication influencing the outcome. An egg donor is required to commit to the egg donation process of a period of two weeks where she self administers intramuscular injections after instruction from a fertility specialist to stimulate the egg development. The process to retrieve donor eggs is under either anaesthetic or sedation. This is a safe practice undertaken by fertility specialists who have extensive experience in this process.
Gamete donation involving confidential egg donation and sperm donation are governed by the National Health Act of 2003. Processes affecting egg donor programs in South Africa are also governed by professional egg donation guidelines. These require egg donors not to achieve more than six donor pregnancies and not to donate more than six times. The anonymity and confidentiality of egg donation is to secured by only showing childhood pictures up to age 10. Egg donors are to be equipped with sufficient information and support to make an informed decision and to donate their eggs - giving recipients the very best opportunity. Other specifications on the South African egg donor guidelines require that egg donor agencies not facilitate egg donor programs for egg donors travelling outside the borders of South Africa. This is to protect egg donors and ensure that they have access to appropriate and reputable south African medical attention pertaining to the egg donor program.
In addition to compliance with the Human Tissue Act, all baby2mom egg donations are within the Guidelines of SASREG, who oversee egg donations within South Africa.
