It has been allowed to donate eggs in Norway since the amendments to the Biotechnology Act came into force on 1 January 2021. Nevertheless, very few have done so.
Bea Kristiansen, on the other hand, is one of those who have chosen to donate. The reason she thinks is simple:
– First and foremost, it is because I want to help other families have children, something we who have children take for granted, but it is not a matter of course for everyone.
At present, only five clinics in Norway are allowed to carry out egg donation, according to The Norwegian Directorate of Health. Four are private and one is public.
TV 2 has gained access to the figures from four of the five providers. They show that the demand is far greater than the number of women who choose to donate eggs.
One year after egg donation became legal, there were a total of 27 approved donors registered at the clinics. At the same time, there were 116 couples waiting for donor eggs.
– Skewed: The number who want donor eggs is far higher than the number of approved donors. Some of the couples may be on a waiting list with several providers. Photo: May Husby / TV 2
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Not everyone is allowed
To be able to donate eggs in Norway, one must meet a number of requirements, in addition to undergoing psychological and medical examinations. Kristiansen passed all the tests and was then ready to start the donation.
– The next step was to get hormone-stimulating medication that you inject under the skin in a few days, says Kristiansen.
These can donate eggs
- Egg donor must be between 25 and 35 years old.
- Must conduct medical and psychosocial examinations.
- Egg donor should have good physical and mental health.
- The egg donor must agree that children can make contact.
- Egg donor should have a sufficiently mature and insightful attitude to egg donation.
- Egg donor can not be a carrier of known hereditary disease
- Egg donor should have normal egg reserves, normal hormone status and no abnormalities on the ultrasound examination that may indicate reduced fertility.
Source: Norwegian Directorate of Health
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The hormones should start egg production. When the eggs are “ripe”, they are retrieved.
– You feel that they go in via the cervix and straight into the ovaries. It feels like you have strong menstrual pain, for those who have experienced it. Then it passes quickly.
Believe in full “egg coverage”
The Livio clinic in Oslo is one of the five clinics that are allowed to carry out egg donation. Clinic manager and gynecologist Nan Birgitte Oldereid believes that the figures obtained by TV 2 indicate that things are going in the right direction.
– I do not think it is so bad as we have only been in Norway for barely a year.
– Will we have enough donors?
– In the long run, I believe and hope that it is. Finland, which has been involved in egg donation for many years, has a steady stream of egg donors who contact the clinics.
– Here she follows the development of an embryo. Photo: Per Haugen / TV 2
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Oldereid still believes the number on the waiting list is somewhat lower than what TV 2 is informed.
– It may be that a number of couples are on the list both with us and at other clinics that offer egg donation. You might think that there is a long wait when there is a new offer, and will secure yourself by standing on lists around.
Want more donors
State Secretary in the Ministry of Health and Care Services Karl Kristian Bekeng (Labor Party), on the other hand, thinks it is a pity that not more people want to donate. He says the government wants to recruit more women, but that it is important that the scheme is experienced voluntarily.
– It can not be the case that we use too much compensation or other instruments to attract donors.
However, he opens up for the state to launch campaigns to recruit more if the number of donors does not increase in the time ahead.
– This is a relatively new offer. So it is possible to follow and see if there is a need to possibly launch information campaigns.
– DURING THE INTERVENTION: Kristiansen describes the pain during the retrieval of the eggs as menstrual pain. Photo: Private
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Can be contacted
But a donation does not come without reservation. For Kristiansen and others who choose to donate eggs, the donation is not necessarily a thing of the past. As a donor, you are listed in a register. If the child so wishes, when he or she turns 15, he or she can find out the donor’s identity.
Kristiansen, on the other hand, thinks this is unproblematic; she says she will then meet the child with open arms.
– If someone comes and says they have the same genes as me, then I look at it positively. That would have been nice, I think.
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