Why should a couple with their own chosen donor opt for the exchange system? For you as a donor, the motivation is often exclusive. You are doing it for this specific acceptor:
often a sister, a member of your family or a very good friend. For the acceptors, loyalty plays a big role. They have asked you because they trust you, because they have a family
connection with you or because they look like you, even if they are not genetically connected.
However it is worthwhile for both parties to carefully weigh the pros and cons of the two systems.
Treatment
Anonymity
Waiting list
The greatest advantage of exchange donation is that it ensures two attempts with fresh material. This significantly increases the chances of success. As a donor, you undergo only
one stimulation treatment. But your couple gets the chance at two donations, albeit from other donors. This assumes that you can produce more than five eggs. In this way, you not only
help two couples, but you also increase the chances of your own coupleÕs treatment being successful.
Even if your stimulation treatment only delivers enough eggs for one acceptor, you have still helped two women: the acceptor you presented with and another anonymous acceptor to whom you donated your material.
Surplus embryos can be successfully frozen and stored for later use. If you produce many eggs from which a number of embryos develop, your acceptor can make use of the frozen embryos in the future.
Frozen embros have produced thousands of healthy, happy babies. Experience has shown us however that the chance of pregnancy is greater when using fresh embryos.
There is also the question of anonymity. Known donation is by definition not anonymous whereas exchange donation is. As previously stated, both the CRG and the law prefer anonymity. Both acceptors and donors often want to know the reasoning behind this.
Anonymity is, in fact, the most effective method of protecting all parties concerned. Both the donor and the acceptor are shielded from disappointment, conflict and differences in priorities. However good a relationship between a donor and the acceptor may be at the time of the donation, there is no way to predict what the situation will be in the future. If problems develop during the pregnancy or later with the child, even the best of relationships may suffer if the question of fault arises.
Even when everything goes well initially, conflicts are not ruled out. Difference of opinions can arise concerning the matter of whether or not to inform the child about his or her origins. Or whether or not the acceptor couple expect or even allow the donor to remain emotionally or physically involved with the child. As a donor, you may wish to remain involved at some level, but the acceptors have difficulty with this.
All of these potential problems can be avoided by keeping the donation process totally anonymous. A clear line is drawn between the acceptor and the donor. The conditions regarding any outcome of the treatment are clear to all parties from the very start.
There is no waiting list for known donation treatment. The process can begin as soon as the donor has declared that she is willing to undergo the treatment and both parties have been deemed suitable
for treatment. Both treatments can be synchronized as soon as arrangements can be made.
However there is a waiting list for exchange donation. The wait time varies according to the availability of donors. Generally speaking, the wait can be from six months to a year. If the potential
parents have already been trying to conceive for a lengthy period already, this can seem a very long time indeed. It is also a long time for the donor to maintain her motivation to undergo the treatment.
We try to compensate for the long waiting time by ensuring that the accepting pair has the right of two treatments with fresh material. This significantly increases their chances of becoming pregnant
in the long term. This can also strengthen the donorÕs motivation. The fact that you as a donor can help two women and at the same time increase the chances of your own acceptor couple having successful
treatment makes the long wait worthwhile.
