It’s easy to forget that behind the sparkle and shine of celebrity lifestyles, there’s a regular person with the same basic wants and needs as everyone else. After all, between photo shoots and red carpet events, they still have to grocery shop and take out the trash.
And just like so many of us, some celebrities also face infertility struggles. Faced with this reality, some of them may develop an interest in alternatives, such as egg donation.
Reaching the Decision to Use Donor Eggs
Whether they’ve put off having children to focus on their careers and age has become an issue, or they are facing reproductive health problems, a celebrity’s infertility journey looks similar to the one faced by anyone else. After long periods of trying to get pregnant naturally, many of them learn that their bodies can’t support a pregnancy or that their eggs aren’t viable for conception. Many turn to solutions such as adoption or surrogacy, but a small handful have chosen donor eggs as the answer to their reproductive challenges.
Celebrities like Mariah Carey have been very outspoken about their difficult experiences getting pregnant. Carey, for example, suffered a miscarriage and difficult infertility treatments before choosing egg donation to have her beautiful twins, Moroccan and Monroe. Marcia Cross of Desperate Housewives fame and Sonia Kruger from Today Extra have also spoken out about their support for donor eggs and their decisions to use them.
Choosing to use donor eggs is not something that’s easy to do. It means coming to terms with the loss of a genetic connection to your child, something that many women find difficult to do. Making this choice, however, also means still having the opportunity to experience pregnancy and feel a child growing within your belly.
Where Does the Donor Egg Process Begin?
While it’s fun to imagine an alternate celebrity universe where they use champagne instead of milk in their cereal and have an assistant on-call to tie their shoes for them, so much of what they do happens in the exact same way as the rest of us, including donor egg IVF treatment.
The first step in this journey is to find your donor. Thanks to donor egg banks, this stage is made a little bit simpler. Signing up for an account with one of them gives you access to numerous different donor profiles.
All donors in the database are put through a multi-step application process that ensures their eggs are of the highest quality possible. This includes medical examinations, drug screenings, psychological evaluations, and much more. Out of 100 donor egg applicants, only around 3 to 5 will actually become donors.
Once the donor eggs are collected, they are quickly frozen using a revolutionary technology called vitrification. This flash-freezing practice exposes each egg to advanced cryoprotectants that prevent ice crystal formation, so the eggs you receive are in the same condition as the day they were frozen.
Once you’ve decided on an egg donor, your chosen eggs are shipped to your fertility clinic to await fertilization and transfer.
Donor Egg IVF: What Comes Next?
So you’ve picked a donor and are ready to get started. The first thing that occurs is a series of tests to screen your current reproductive health, including bloodwork and ultrasounds.
After these are completed, your doctor prescribes a regimen of medications, estrogen and progesterone, which thicken your endometrial lining and ensure your uterus is ready for the embryo transfer.
Throughout this preparation phase, your condition is monitored through transvaginal ultrasounds and bloodwork. When the doctor determines you are ready, you come into the clinic for your embryo transfer, which is performed using ultrasound technology and a thin catheter.
Two weeks after the transfer is completed, you return to the clinic for a blood pregnancy test that will hopefully yield positive results.
Celebrities: Not So Different from You and I
While the bright lights of Hollywood may paint a beautiful picture, celebrities are still troubled by the same wants and needs as everyone else, including the desire to start a family. It might seem like they’re untouched by issues such as infertility, but like Mariah Carey, more and more celebrities are going public about their difficulties conceiving.
Choosing donor eggs is not a simple decision, but it is an option that provides immeasurable possibilities. When nothing else seems to be working, just know that there are still other ways to achieve the family you’ve been dreaming of.
Disclosure: Sponsored post.
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