When filling out your egg donor application, you may have noticed that we ask for a lot of health information, both about you and about your family. It is probably […]
When filling out your egg donor application, you may have noticed that we ask for a lot of health information, both about you and about your family. It is probably the most difficult aspect of the application, requiring you to dig into your medical records and ask family members questions! Are you wondering why we ask for this at all, and how it may impact your application?
There are several reasons behind why we require such a comprehensive health history. The donor’s health history is the basis for any child’s future health history, so it is very important that the potential intended parents know as much information as possible. This information is also pertinent to your future testing appointments.
While we encourage being open with your family about your egg donation, you are not required to disclose this information. If you would prefer to keep the egg donation aspect private, try asking them about your family medical history for another reason, be it a research project, an essay, a school assignment, for a new physician you’re seeing, etc.
However, if you are comfortable talking with your family about this, it can be a great conversation and way to learn more about your family history.
It may seem daunting to find and provide all this information, but the more comprehensive your health profile is, the more likely you are to be matched. Furthermore, learning all this information is not only good for the intended parents’ knowledge, but for your own! We set you up with a genetic counselor who will let you know if you are a genetic carrier for anything, as well as if you are at risk for certain health conditions. Anything from minor allergies all the way up to major illnesses are covered in your genetic testing. This is great information to have for yourself, going into the future.
Hearing all of this, you may be tempted to hide or gloss over certain things when providing your health history. However, having a “perfect” health history, while seemingly desirable, actually makes you less likely to be matched. Nobody has a “perfect” health history and we know this. Having a spotless health record tells the intended parents that you either didn’t make an effort to reach out to your family, or you are not being completely honest.
While there are some things that may exclude you from our particular program (see here for more information on our requirements), the bottom line is that there are no hard and fast “deal breakers” for intended parents. Just like you, intended parents have diverse health histories; a deal breaker for one set of intended parents may not be a deal breaker for another. For instance, if you are a carrier for the same genetic condition as an intended parent, we likely would not match you both. However, that genetic condition might not matter at all to a different intended parent, and you might be the perfect match for them!
In the end, our main goal is always to help our intended families have healthy babies and the donor, and the donor’s health history, is a huge part of that.
We hoped this helped answer some of the questions/concerns you may have had about how your health history impacts your donor application. For more tips on how to get matched, see our other blog post.
-AsiaWest Egg Donors