Doing it again...

I started thinking about donating again about a year after my first retrieval. I was bored with the shallowness of corporate life and needed a change of scenery. I decided that donating a second time would be and a nice way to do something that actually makes a difference in someone's life. Something that matters.

So I started to research agencies.  This time around, I was looking for one that would allow me to travel out of state for the retrieval and that was a little more flexible in terms of the compensation. In this process, I found that most of the agencies that let donors set their own fees all in all did not come across as trustworthy establishments and that I really did not like them. I did, however, find one I liked in the end and I have been with them ever since. 

The application process was more rigorous this time. More pictures were required, including pictures of family members (which I categorically refused to provide), along with proof of test scores, transcripts, diplomas, etc. I felt vaguely uncomfortable sending in all this documentation but eventually decided to go along with it.

As with my first donation, I was matched with a couple very quickly - more quickly than I would have thought - about three weeks after I submitted my application. Yay! 

How I became an egg donor

It wasn't until two years after I graduated that I saw another egg donor ad, on craigslist, while looking for an apartment. This time, I had just moved to Chicago for a job. This time, home was much further away, and considerably longer ago. It wasn't that I had a particular urge to pass on my genes, or to help out a childless couple. More than anything, I felt adventurous. I had always taken an interest in medicine, wasn't afraid of medical procedures, and figured that trying this out would be a good way to do something nice for other people while and earning a bit of cash on the side and having an interesting time.

The anonymity of a big city where, at the time, I did not have as much as an acquaintance, helped me muster up the courage necessary to click that "send button" and submit that information form to the donor agency, along with a few pictures. It read something like this:

Age: 24

Education: Ivy League graduate

Height: 5-9

Weight: 135

Medical history: virtually none.

Smoking: never

30 pages of paperwork, an in-person interview, and a personality test later, I was matched with a couple who liked my profile. Between the day I submitted my profile and the moment I learned I had been "matched," less than 10 days had passed.

I didn't expect things to move so fast but thought, let's do it. I was too excited and scared to tell anyone.

Two years and three donations later, I essentially still haven't told anyone.