Claire

‘Donating my eggs to my best friend is the best thing I have ever done.’

My best friend, Emma, and I have done pretty much everything together since we met on our first day at school. Like all good friendships, there have been lots of ups and downs but we’ve always been there for each other. We’ve always had each other’s backs. From first boyfriends to drunken nights out, our first holiday away from our parents to visiting each other at university and then being bridesmaids at each other’s weddings. We took it for granted that our children would be born around the same time and that they would become mischief-makers together.

When I got pregnant on my honeymoon I excitedly shared my news with Emma. She was so happy for me. She’d got married six months before me but had only recently started trying for a baby so we both figured it would just be a matter of time. But another six months came and went. And then another. And then another. By which time I was pregnant with my second child. Emma was understandably upset when I told her we had another baby on the way and she was more anxious than ever that there might be a problem with her or her husband’s fertility.

They had lots of tests. Neither of them were expecting to discover that in her early thirties Emma had such low ovarian reserve that her only option to become a mum was to adopt or use donated eggs. She was devastated. I was so sad for her and I felt so guilty that I’d got pregnant twice. She had always been like a sister to me and watching her go through this heartache was so difficult. I wanted to help. I wanted her to experience becoming a mum.

So, one night, over many tears and tissues I offered to donate my eggs to her. It seemed like such an obvious thing to do. I’m not sure why I hadn’t thought of it earlier. She didn’t say yes immediately. We all spent a few months talking about it between ourselves and what it might mean for our friendship and our relationships with our husbands and children. When we were all ready, we booked an appointment at Emma’s clinic and got things started. All of my tests came back OK and the counsellor was happy for us to proceed. I didn’t find the process difficult at all – Emma even helped me with some of the injections! Egg collection and the two-week-wait were nerve wracking for all of us but it was well worth it as now I get to see Emma and her bump!

Donating my eggs to my best friend is the best thing I have ever done. I can’t wait to meet her baby and see her become a mum.

Why I Became An Egg Donor

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