So many potential donors have contacted IVF New Jersey, which has offices in Somerset and three other locations, that the center no longer has to advertise for them, said Jane Tervooren, marketing director. Meanwhile, the surge in donations has helped the Institute for Reproductive Medicine and Science at St. Barnabas in Livingston significantly shorten the time infertile women must wait for donated eggs. Women who used to wait nine months are now being helped in three to six, said Cindy Lucas, director of marketing at the institute.
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By the numbers
An increasing number of North Jersey residents are willing to donate their sperm and eggs to shore up their finances as the economy worsens: * Women can receive up to $8,000 for egg donation in New Jersey. * Men can earn up to $5,200 annually for weekly sperm donations in New Jersey. * Nationally, nearly 14,000 embryos contain donated eggs. * Success rates vary from 32 percent to 54 percent, depending upon whether frozen or fresh embryos are used. Sources: Local fertility experts; Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology  Reproductive biologist T. Timothy Smith, donor coordinator Carol Woods and Dr. Jane E. Miller at North Hudson IVF.
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"We’ve definitely seen an increase" in donors, Lucas said. The plummeting job market has also led to an increase in sperm donations. California Cryobank, a sperm bank that supplies donations to New Jersey and other states, reports 4,000 applicants in the last two quarters of 2008 — an 18 percent increase from the same period in 2007. "The economy certainly has shown us an increase in potential donors," said spokesman Scott Brown. In New Jersey, women are paid as much as $8,000 for their eggs and men can earn up to $5,200 a year for their sperm, physicians said. Clinics and treatment centers choose only a small percentage of applicants. Men and women need to pass rigorous screenings and must commit to several procedures, or visits in the case of sperm donors.
"The majority of applicants don’t meet our basic requirements," said Albert Anouna, director and chief executive officer of sperm banks in Mountainside and Manhattan. Sperm donors must commit to a year of visits, Anouna said. They are paid $100 per weekly visit but aren’t compensated until at least six months into the process. A 20-year-old single Garfield woman who donated eggs at North Hudson IVF said Thursday she was eager to provide her eggs to an infertile woman — and collect a paycheck. "You’re helping someone and you’re getting $4,000 cash," said the woman, who spoke on condition of anonymity because her contract with the clinic requires that she is never identified. She said she works 60 hours a week as a saleswoman at a Toyota dealership to make ends meet. She is also a part-time student at Bergen Community College.
She has donated eggs three times. The first time she donated her eggs, the money "was a nice pick-me-up for things I couldn’t afford," she said. At the same time, she said she "had the feeling that I’m really giving a great gift." This time, she said she’s saving the money so she’ll "have something in the bank for a rainy day."
An involved process
Women who are chosen to become donors are typically between the ages of 20 and 32, and are subject to rigorous physical screenings and psychological evaluations. They take birth control to cycle with the recipient and inject hormones to stimulate egg growth. They must commit to a dozen or so office visits, ultrasounds and an egg-retrieval process that requires sedation. All told, the process can take three months. "For every 100 women who apply, we accept four or five," said Dr. Jane E. Miller, director of North Hudson IVF. The programs acknowledge that young women become donors to make money, especially when they’re struggling as college students or mothers trying to raise families. However, they believe women feel satisfaction in helping another woman to become a mother.
Some donors are mothers already. Others, like the Garfield woman, intend to have families later. Repeat donors are common. However, industry guidelines suggest that women should donate no more than six times, Lucas said. Most centers in New Jersey pay $8,000 to egg donors, Lucas said. North Hudson IVF pays $4,000, according to Woods and a donor. Woods acknowledged that "a lot of places pay more," but she said some split the eggs and therefore get paid by more than one patient. However, Tervooren said that IVF New Jersey and many other clinics in the region pay $8,000 and provide donor eggs to one woman.
Donors face risks
A study published in the December issue of Fertility and Sterility found that almost one in five women reported lasting psychological effects as a result of egg donation — some positive and some negative. Some women felt a sense of pride in helping an infertile woman, while others developed concerns about the people who were raising their genetic offspring, the study found. "It’s kind of like a blood donation but obviously more involved," said the Garfield donor. "It’s a great thing, as long as you have your head in the right place." Statistics aren’t available on the number of egg donors nationally. However, nearly 14,000 embryos containing donated eggs were transferred into patients in 2006, the last year for which data were available, according to the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology. Success rates vary from between 32 percent to 54 percent, depending upon whether frozen or fresh embryos are used.
Health risks for egg donation include bleeding from the retrieval procedure and reaction to hormones used to induce hyperovulation — producing more than one egg. Donors may also report feeling bloated or cramping during the process. The eggs are retrieved from the patient using a vaginal ultrasound-guided needle. The needle pierces the vaginal walls to reach the ovaries. The procedure typically yields between 10 and 30 eggs. It takes about 20 minutes and is usually done under mild sedation or general anesthesia.
Treatments costly
Coverage of fertility treatment in New Jersey is mandated at many companies, so plenty of clinics are seeing a steady stream of couples trying to conceive, Tervooren said. IVF New Jersey does offer a discount program for people who don’t have insurance, she said. Experts say one IVF cycle can cost $10,000 or more. However, the grim financial forecast is making it more difficult for some infertile couples, physicians said. Dr. Shari Brasner, a Manhattan OB-GYN, and author of "Advice from a Pregnant Obstetrician," said some patients are holding off from treatment. Last week, she said there there were two cancellations. "I know economics played a role in one case.’’ Brasner said some women are asking for less expensive options, such as a "fertility kit" that is sold online for a few hundred dollars or an extra cycle of fertility drugs before trying IVF.
But in many cases, couples eventually sign on to the expensive treatment. "Emotions get the better of them more than the pocketbook issues," she said. Along with her payment Thursday, the Garfield donor found a thank you note from the woman who received her eggs, a woman who has been trying to conceive for two years. "I almost cried," the donor said. "It’s the first time I’ve gotten a letter." It will be the last time she donates her eggs. "They told me three times was enough," she said.