Clara
Clara has a sense of humor and is very outgoing, but she is also a “tough cookie” who always stands her ground. She loves country music, and she currently works as a golf instructor. Clara believes that everything happens for a reason, and one of the most important parts of her life is her family.
I decided to become an egg donor for a few reasons. I was going through college when I first signed up and wanted to make sure I had the financial means to afford school and living expenses and I definitely felt that I was healthy and had a great family history to help a family looking to have children.
Yes, I have donated a total of 6 times so far.
After each donation I like to follow up to see if the IPs we able to get pregnant and have a healthy successful process and so far every one of them have and that for me has been the best rewarding feeling!
The most challenging part of the process for me is the recovery with bloating. Sets me back on my workout goals, throws my diet off and it takes about a week to go away and then about a month for me to get back on track again.
I would say that I was very informed going into the donation process. I did a lot of personal research myself and always had any questions answered from Dr.Jain and all of the staff. I feel that going through Santa Monica Fertility specifically made this process that much easier. I have joined forums through social media where women all over the world comment and share their different experience through different clinics and there are some upsetting issues that some donors have encountered through the agencies they went through. I was always well informed, taken care of and treated so amazingly.
Some advice I would pass on would be to do a lot of research, always ask questions and be knowledge about tax information as well. I was very happy knowing the clinic wouldn’t be sending me a 1099 because they want to make sure their donors are taken care of. I would also pass along that first time donors make sure they understand the responsibility of this process. I work two jobs and go to school full time so staying on top of my appointments, injections, phone calls and emails with the clinic is imperative. As a donor we have to realize that there are intended parents paying a lot of money with high hopes to starting a family and they are counting on us to do our part to stay healthy and happy throughout this process so that everyone has a good end result.
