Southampton clinic launches campaign to recruit more egg donors

But with one in six couples faced with trouble conceiving, egg donors are in short supply forcing those aching to have a child to wait months before any hope of a family can become a reality.

So a Southampton clinic is on a mission to recruit more egg donors and end that agonising wait for those desperately longing for a child.

Helping Wessex Fertility to achieve its aim is one woman who has already selflessly given hope to a childless couple she doesn’t know.

Having experienced for herself the amazing journey of motherhood and the overwhelming power of love it brings, Crystal Irving felt compelled to ensure those yearning for a child have the chance to experience it too.

The 33-year-old mother-of-two first donated her eggs altruistically last year after realising her decision to have her tubes tied 12 months earlier had been a mistake.

But while she knew she couldn’t benefit from the eggs she was still producing, she didn’t want them going to waste and made the decision to become an egg donor after seeing a programme about it on television.

She said: “My circumstances changed and I realised I had made a massive mistake.

“I couldn’t afford to have the operation reversed so rather than waste my eggs I thought I could give them to other people instead. When I watched the story on television I just thought that it would be a really nice thing to do for someone.

“I heard my children playing in my bedroom and just thought that I couldn’t imagine my life without them and wanted other people to have that experience if they wanted.

“It’s my own fault I can’t have any more so I thought it was the right thing to do to help somebody else.

“I have had the amazing experience that is having children, so it is only fair that every woman who wants that should at least get the chance to feel it.”

Crystal, who has a nine-year-old daughter Hannah and three-year-old son Finn, donated her eggs in October last year at Wessex Fertility, based in Shirley.

To ensure she had enough eggs for donation, Crystal, from Hythe, had to inject herself with hormones twice a day for two weeks.

Despite not being very good with needles, Crystal surprised herself at how easily she got to grips with the process.

The procedure of taking the eggs takes just a couple of hours, during which time Crystal was sedated as the eggs were extracted from her ovaries.

She was left feeling tender and sore the next day, but after 24 hours she was back at work.

She added: “It’s not a lot of effort for such a massive gift.

“The feeling you get when you have done it is amazing because you cannot put a price on it. It’s the biggest gift you can give someone but the process of doing it is not that big a deal. It’s more than worth it.

“My advice to anyone thinking about it is not to research it on the Internet, go to a fertility clinic, because they will give you all the information and advice you possibly need.”

Egg donors have no financial or legal obligation for any children born as a result of their donation as the recipient couple are the parents of the child.

But while the altruist donor’s identity is not given to the recipients – only characteristics – once the child is 18 they have the right to find out the identity of the donor.

However, this doesn’t worry Crystal, who is in the process of donating for a second time.

“I don’t have any concerns about children turning up on my doorstep once they reach 16”, she said.

“There is plenty of room and plenty of time for them, but for me I don’t think it’s likely to happen.

“Before I did it, I did speak to my daughter Hannah about it and at first she thought that would mean more brothers and sisters but once I explained that wasn’t the case and that these would be someone else’s children, she understood and thought it was a lovely thing to do.

“I like to think it’s something she can do in the future, if she wanted to, because she knows it is not a taboo subject, but a wonderful thing to do.”

For each donation an egg donor receives £750 to cover expenses for going through the procedure.

The UK currently has a major shortage of women willing to donate their eggs, with waiting lists between 18 to 24 months long.

Fortunately, Wessex Fertility has been able to reduce that to two to three months, but the clinic is eager to help sustain that and cut it even further to prevent couples enduring weeks of agonising waiting.

Couples such as Louise Elkins and her partner John Everett who had to wait six months before Wessex Fertility was able to find them a suitable egg donor.

Louise, from Shirley, went through the menopause aged just 15 and was told that she would never be able to have children naturally.

But thanks to the selfless act of one woman, Louise had two eggs implanted into her womb and one resulted in the birth of her son Zachary, who is now two.

Louise, 39, who hopes to have another child via egg donation, said: “When we decided to go ahead with egg donation it wasn’t an issue because as far as I see it, I have carried Zachary for nine months, he is made up of my blood and genetically he is my partner’s son.

“The six-month wait was tough and I was much closer to my phone during that time but if more women donate, then other couples won’t have to wait as long.

“It’s the most amazing gift that anybody can give and we’re so grateful that there are women out there who are willing to donate their eggs.

“Hopefully this will encourage more women to consider egg donation.”

Sarah Powlesland, senior fertility nurse at Wessex Fertility, said: “Egg donors offer these women an amazing gift, giving them the chance to fulfil their dreams of having a family.

“To enable us to continue offering this special gift, we would love to see more women willing to consider egg donation.” n To be eligible to donate eggs you will need to be aged under 35, with a BMI of between 19 and 30, and be a non-smoker.

n To find out more about becoming an egg donor call 023 8070 6000.