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SINCE THE FIRST CHILD WAS BORN IN 1984 IN AUSTRALIA AS A RESULT of egg donation, one could safely say that egg donation is no longer in its infancy. Oocyte donation has, in fact, become included as a viable medical option in fertility clinics offering in vitro fertilization technologies for their patients worldwide. Indications for the use of egg donation include:
Ovarian agenesis or gonadal dysgenesis
Premature ovarian failure
Postmenopausal women
Women with morphologically abnormal ova
Genetic abnormalities (including significant autosomal-dominant or sex-linked disorders or autosomal-recessive disorders in a couple reluctant to use donor sperm)
There appear to be a number of complex psychosocial issues that couples confront when choosing to have a child, or children, through oocyte donation. At the very least, individuals often suffer intense grief and mourning inherent in the realization that the woman cannot bear an offspring who is genetically related to her. Another issue for many couples is the disclosure of information surrounding conception. Although there is some recent data on the process of disclosure in gamete donation, very little is actually known about the experience of disclosure among couples with children conceived through donor eggs (DE).
Despite the medical and scientific success of oocyte donation over the past 20 years, little is known about families who have children created through this option. There is a lack of data about how families are doing with respect to overall health, well-being, identity, attachment, and disclosure issues. This deficiency of information has become of increased concern among mental health professionals who work with recipients of egg donation.
In a preliminary study by Applegarth et.al. (1995), it was found that, overall, couples described themselves as happy with their decision to have children by egg donation. Obstetrical data indicated a very high percentage of healthy babies d