Heartfelt Egg Donation Announces Redesigned Website and Blog

I'm excited to announce Heartfelt Egg Donation, LLC has a redesigned website! From now on all of our blog posts will appear within our website on the Blog page and not here on Blogger. If you have been following us please be sure to follow us here instead: http://heartfelteggdonation.com/blog/.

As well if you have been following us on Networked Blogs on Facebook, please be sure to update your notifications for the new site.

Thank you for following us!

Birth Announcement - Welcome baby girls!

It is with great joy that I announce the birth of Sophia and Abigail. Aren't they absolutely gorgeous?! When I received the announcement, my eyes welled up with tears and I felt tremendous happiness for proud parents, Cindy and Mike.

Cindy, wrote a post on Heartfelt Egg Donation's blog back in September describing their journey to parenthood. I would encourage anyone who is feeling discouraged about getting pregnant or building their family to read Cindy's blog post by clicking here.

Congratulations to the happy family and may sleep come your way sooner rather than later!

How to Hire a Reproductive Attorney written by Melissa Brisman, Esq.

Heartfelt Egg Donation, LLC provides a legal Services Agreement/Contract for each egg donation cycle as part of our services and is included in our agency fee.  Our agreement is drafted by a reproductive law attorney and is customized for each egg donation cycle. We always suggest that you have a reproductive law attorney review the document and answer any legal questions you may have. Below is an article written by Melissa Brisman, Esq. that will help take the mystery out of how to hire a reproductive attorney.
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How to Hire a Reproductive Attorney written by Melissa Brisman, Esq. A version of this article originally appeared in the Winter 2006 issue of Conceive Magazine.

If you’re facing fertility challenges and turning to assisted reproductive technologies, you may need some expert legal advice. To make sure you get the best, you’ll need to do some interrogating. Because reproductive law is still in its infancy (no pun intended!) there are still very few attorneys who specialize in this area. That’s one reason it’s especially important for any prospective parents to research the qualifications of the lawyer they’re hoping will assist them on the path to parenthood. For instance, a family law practice is substantially different from a law firm specializing in reproductive law. Firms advertising themselves as specializing in family law may be willing to take your case, but may not have the expertise to handle it as well as an attorney specializing in reproductive law. Websites and Internet message boards can offer a wealth of information when you start your research. Once you narrow down your search, you should get answers to the following questions before retaining the services of an attorney or firm.

1. How much experience do you have in this specific area?
Obviously your attorney’s professional experience is crucial. You’ll want to make sure he or she has the expertise and qualifications of a reproductive attorney rather than a more general family law practitioner. The subtleties and ever-changing legislation in reproductive law mean you really need someone who specializes in this field and keeps up with all the latest developments.

But once you ascertain professional expertise, personal factors become important, too. The issues that come up in reproductive law can be quite delicate and intimate, and you need to feel comfortable with the attorney who is representing you.

Both factors need to be in place—professional qualifications and a good personality match—before you can be sure you’ve found at attorney who will give you the information and advice you need while protecting your interests and understanding your particular situation in this unsettled area of the law.

2. Does your law firm offer any services other than “legal”?
The list of things to do when you’ve started on the road to family-building through assisted reproductive technology can seem infinite. You’ll ask yourself: How will I find and manage the money needed to pay all these people? What about my insurance? Who will coordinate all the “little things”? How can I find a gestational carrier and/or egg or sperm donor if I need one? It goes on and on. You may wish to consider a “one-stop shopping” approach by choosing a law firm that offers all of these services, and more. By hiring this type of firm you can cut your “to do” list to a manageable size. And while the law firm offering all these services may charge more money than other firms, the cost can still be substantially less than if you were to pay for each of these jobs individually.

3. Do you charge a flat fee or an hourly rate?
Before you sign a retainer agreement with a law firm, you should find out about the way the firm charges for its services. For instance, some attorneys work on a contingency basis—meaning they are only paid if their work is successful—but this is not appropriate in the field of reproductive law, and you should steer clear of any attorney who offers this payment option. Most attorneys charge an hourly rate, which means you’re billed a set amount for every hour (or part of an hour) that the attorney is working for you. But since it’s nearly impossible to foresee the amount of time your case will take (especially in such a constantly changing area of the law), this arrangement means it will be virtually impossible for you to know how much your legal
fees will wind up costing.

Considering all the unforeseeable expenses prospective parents encounter, it’s a great advantage to know up front what your legal fees will be. You can do that if you hire an attorney who works on a flat fee basis. When you retain an attorney for a flat fee, you can budget for your legal fees in advance. Of course, there may be some additional expenses, such as court filing fees, but these are usually minimal.

4. Where are you licensed to practice law?
Attorneys must be licensed by each state to practice law there. As you will discover when you begin your search for legal advice, individual lawyers and firms in this field come from all over the country. It’s a great advantage to have an attorney who is licensed in the states relevant to your case. Your attorney should be licensed in any states in which any medical procedures are being performed. And if you’re using a “third party” (egg donor, sperm donor, surrogate/gestational carrier), you should try to have a lawyer licensed in at least one (and ideally more) of the states in which the individuals reside. Of course, it would be impossible to find an attorney licensed in all 50 states, but it is important to find an attorney licensed in the state(s) where your clinic is located, where your baby will be born, where you live, where any third parties live, and where the IVF procedure will take place, etc.

5. Do you have a knowledgeable and experienced support staff?
When you retain an attorney, you’re not just hiring one lawyer, but the entire law firm. One sign of a good attorney is having a capable and confident staff who can assist you when the attorney is unavailable. Although a lawyer’s support staff can’t offer legal advice, they can ensure that all other aspects of your case are handled in a timely and professional manner. (On the other hand, a “solo practitioner” who has no office staff, or an attorney with poorly trained or inexperienced personnel, can make the entire process more difficult.) If possible, try to find out how long the employees have been working with the attorney; a high turnover rate may indicate some problems in the office itself.

Melissa B. Brisman is an attorney who practices exclusively in the field of reproductive law and is considered by her peers to be a leader in her profession.  Ms. Brisman’s experience and qualifications are unparalleled.  She employs an experienced and qualified staff of legal and administrative professionals and is licensed to practice law in Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and   Pennsylvania.  Ms. Brisman has a practice, Melissa B. Brisman, Esq., LLC, located in Montvale, New Jersey, offering a full range of legal services in connection with gestational carrier arrangements, ovum, sperm, and embryo donation, and adoption.  In addition, Ms. Brisman is sole owner of Reproductive Possibilities, LLC.  Reproductive Possibilities, LLC is an agency offering a donor record-keeping service which maintains contact information for intended parents and their anonymous ovum donors for a period of years following a donor arrangement.  Reproductive Possibilities, LLC also facilitates gestational carrier arrangements.  Ms. Brisman is also sole owner of Surrogate Fund Management, LLC, a company that manages escrow in connection with reproductive arrangements.

Series: Egg Donor Frequently Asked Questions - #8 What Happens Once I'm Selected to be an Egg Donor?

What happens once I am chosen by an Intended Parent and agree to be their Donor?

• The entire process should take between 6 to 8 weeks.
• If the Intended Parents and you agree to meet, we will schedule a meeting that will be facilitated by Heartfelt Egg Donation.
• You will receive a contract and you will meet with an agency-appointed attorney for legal consultation and contract review.
• We will schedule your initial required psychological evaluation and testing and medical evaluation.
• The treating physician will counsel you through the process and inform you of your schedule and how and when to begin taking the fertility medication.
• You will be scheduled for a procedure that will remove the eggs from your ovaries. This procedure usually takes about 30-40 minutes and is done under sedation in an outpatient setting.
• You will receive your compensation check within 7 days after the retrieval.

How long will it take to be matched?

This is not something we can predict. Some donors have been matched within one week of applying; others have taken as long as one year and some may never be matched.

How much time will I have to take off from work or school?

Appointments are usually early in the morning, so little or no time is missed. You will need to schedule an entire day for the egg retrieval. If your retrieval requires travel to a city where the Intended Parents doctor is located you may have to take additional time off of work or school. All travel and accommodation requirements will be arranged and paid for by Heartfelt Egg Donation on the behalf of the Intended Parents.

How much will I be paid and when will I receive the check?

Heartfelt Egg Donation has signed an agreement with the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology (SART) that states that we will abide by the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) Ethics Committee Guidelines governing the payment of egg donors. The guidelines pertaining to appropriate donor compensation specifically state: "Total payments to donors in excess of $5,000 require justification and sums above $10,000 are not appropriate." Donors will not be compensated over $10,000 under any circumstance. Typically, you will receive your check within 7 days of the egg retrieval.

Testimonial: A Kind Thank You

January is always a contemplative month. Like many, I look back on the previous year and all that's happened and think about the possibilities of the new year not just for me personally and professionally but for the prospective parents and donors I work with at Heartfelt Egg Donation. The most exciting thing about doing what I do is learning that there are successful pregnancies and babies being born to well deserving parents. 

This letter came recently and I truly appreciate the kind words.

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Dear Suzanne, 

Lord knows that this letter of thanks is very long overdue but I hope that you will accept my apology for the delay nonetheless. 

At this time of year as we all reflect on our many blessings I am constantly reminded of how fortunate I am that I found you and your agency to help me in my endeavor to create a family. Words cannot adequately express my sincere gratitude for everything that you did for me. 

First and foremost, you are a person true to your word which is a rarity in today's society. You have integrity and to me that is priceless. I would recommend you to anyone going through the donor process. You were reliable, returned every phone call and e-mail in a timely fashion and made me feel very secure during an otherwise stressful time. I never once had to worry about things on your end. I honestly felt at all times that you had everything under control and that you had my best interests at heart. The fact that my husband and I received a refund from you of money that was not spent adds testimony to your honesty. 

I am truly grateful to you and my donor for providing me with this incredible opportunity to form a family that I wouldn't have been able to do on my own. I don't want to jinx anything but I can say that as long as things continue to go well there will be lots of celebrating in the new year on the East Coast. 

I'll keep in touch, 

S.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year from Heartfelt Egg Donation! We are so grateful for all of our 500+ Facebook community friends, colleagues and beyond. Cheers to you and a New Year bursting with possibilities!

Lemon Blossoms - renewed faith, hope and possibilities

Pandora's Box? Gail Sexton Anderson, Ed.M.

Heartfelt Egg Donation coordinates and encourages open and semi-open communication and arrangements between intended parents and egg donors if they decide this is the best route for them. I truly value Gail Sexton Anderson's voice in the egg donation community. Have a look at her recent blog post below and her insight regarding direct contact between parents and egg donors.

Pandora's Box? By Gail Sexton Anderson, Ed.M. 

Some fear that allowing intended parents and egg donors to have direct contact could be opening Pandora’s box.  My experience, of over 13 years, working with couples and egg donors is that knowledge soothes the fear of the unknown rather than creating problems. I have conducted many meetings between couples and egg donors and I can say they have been wonderful meetings were all parties walked away feeling better for having met.

When the donor gets the opportunity to meet the couple she is helping she has a stronger sense of commitment to the process. I’ve found that many donors would say to me after having met the couple that they were surprised how nice the intended parents are.  They had been expecting some wealthy and superficial individuals rather than a normal everyday caring couple longing to be parents. The donor often finds it more rewarding to when they get the opportunity to meet the couple.  Donors who done completely anonymous cycles as well as cycles were they have meet the intended parents wish they had been able to meet the all of their couples.

When intended parents meet their egg donor it acts to reinforce their choice and to take away many of the fears they may have.  I have found that most intended parents have the desire to feel like they know the egg donor.  It can be a very scary thing to put so much trust into an individual who will in essence be taking the mothers place in the gene pool. The meeting can help the couple to experience the egg donor as a multifaceted individual whom they can feel comfortable moving forward with in an IVF cycle.  I have found that intended parents also feel a strongly sense of closure when they have been able to meet their donor.
I’m not suggesting that all couples and donor should meet but I am suggesting that we are not complicating issues but actually simplifying issues by not creating such a taboo around meeting and future contact. The bottom line is that the more the parties know about each other more the comfortable they usually are.  Not knowing may cause the parties involved to make assumptions about each other that may not be founded in reality and may also cause anxiety in many cases.

I am finding that many intended parents are becoming more and more open to having some sort of contact with their egg donor and even more so wanting to have the option for future contact for the benefit of their future child.  Trying to keep these parties apart creates more fear than is really merited.  Most couples and egg donors have good boundaries and are not likely to become burdens to the each other.

Let’s also remember, at the bottom of Pandora’s box was hope.

Series: Egg Donor Frequently Asked Questions - #4

Can I donate eggs if I just had a baby and I'm breast feeding?

You may not donate while you are breast feeding. It is also necessary for you to have at least three regular menstrual cycles prior to participating in an egg donation cycle. You may start the application process with Heartfelt Egg Donation.

To become an egg donor with Heartfelt Egg Donation, LLC please visit the Donor section of our website for more information. 

Series: Egg Donor Frequently Asked Questions - #2

Are there any forms of birth control that will prevent me from being accepted as an egg donor with Heartfelt Egg Donation, llc?

Yes, you will not be considered or accepted into our program as an egg donor if you are currently using Depo-Provera, Norplant or a Hormonal IUD, such as Mirena. You will be required to have at least three regular menstrual cycles after you discontinue using these methods of birth control. These forms of birth control do not allow your menstrual cycles to be adjusted or synchronized and this is a very important part of the egg donation treatment cycle. Although some physician's and fertility centers will allow donation with a Mirena IUD, we cannot guarantee matching you with prospective parents who are working with a physician who accepts this practice; therefore, we will not be able to accept you into our program.  If you have a Non-Hormonal IUD or are using birth control pills this will not affect your ability to donate. 

Series: Egg Donor Frequently Asked Questions - #1 How do I become an egg donor with Heartfelt Egg Donation, LLC?

Today our blog features the first in our series of Frequently Asked Questions by Egg Donors.

How do I become an egg donor with Heartfelt Egg Donation, LLC?

1. Please review the Donor section of our Web site to be familiar with our Donor Criteria. We search for egg donors candidates with the following characteristics:

• Ethical, honest and caring.
• Responsible and committed to helping those who require an egg donor.
• Between the age of 20 and 31.
• In good health and live a healthy lifestyle.
• Have a healthy BMI (Body Mass Index).
• Non-smokers and do not use illegal drugs.
• Not currently on the Depo Provera shot, Norplant or using a hormonal IUD such as Mirena.
• May be willing to speak with and/or meet Intended Parents.
• Able to provide health history and genetic background.
• Willing to undergo medical and psychological screening.
• Willing to be available for 6-8 weeks, attend approximately 10 doctor appointments.
• Willing to perform self-administered injections for a period of approximately two weeks.
• Willing to undergo a procedure via sedation to retrieve eggs.
• May be willing to travel.

2. Print and complete the Confidential Donor Information and Consent Form, Donor Profile and FDA Addendum.

3. Return the Confidential Donor Information and Consent Form, Donor Profile and FDA Addendum along with a copy of your driver's license, educational transcripts and at least five photographs of you at various stages in your life. This information will be used to review your background. Please provide photos that show you positively. We ask you to provide as many photos as possible so that prospective parents can make an accurate assessment of your appearance and features. You may mail, fax or email your application to:

Heartfelt Egg Donation, LLC

1344 Disc Drive, #402

Sparks, Nevada 89436

Fax: 775-354-0533

info@heartfelteggdonation.com

We prefer that you email your digital photos to us although you may mail them with your application. If you would like to have them returned, you must provide a self addressed stamped envelope, otherwise we will not be able to return them. 

4. Upon receipt of your application and all the required components, we will schedule an interview with you to get to know you better and to discuss your motivations for wanting to donate.

If you are losing hope...My story, by Cindy

This is for anyone out there who is losing hope…

In the fall of 2004 my husband and I received the greatest news that you can imagine. My Doctor said that I was pregnant at the age of 40. On May 16th 2005 our beautiful daughter was born, and we believed that life could not get any better. Then on September 11th 2008, we received the news that every parent dreads. Our daughter was diagnosed with ALL Leukemia. Eight days later she was gone.

My husband and I could not accept facing a life without children, so soon after her loss, we began trying to have another baby. I was almost 44, when she passed. We tried on our own for a few months, but I knew our chances were very slim.

We decided to try IVF. Initially, we tried 2 cycles with my own eggs. The second cycle I got pregnant and carried the baby until the second ultrasound at 10 weeks. After having a solid heartbeat 2 weeks earlier, there was no heartbeat to be found on the second.

After that disappointment, we decided to try an egg donor. I became pregnant again, but unfortunately miscarried at 6 weeks.

We only had 2 frozen embryos from the first donor, so we decided to go with another egg donor, as our insurance benefits were about to expire. The second donor produced only 2 embryos, that were not of the best quality. We did 2 frozen transfers, and were not successful either time.

Then we received news from my husband's company that they were changing insurance carriers. This would give us another 4 chances with IVF. We took this as a sign, that perhaps God wanted us to keep trying. So we did…

We hired donor # 3. She was actually an acquaintance of ours. (This, I definitely do not recommend!) On her second blood test which came back the day before retrieval, something showed up in her blood work that forced that cycle to be cancelled.

Then, next there was donor # 4. Believe it or not, the same thing happened again.

After all of this, I am not going to lie, I was very discouraged, but I could not give up. I began to look for a new donor through Heartfelt Egg Donation, LLC. When I saw the donor that we picked, I felt a sense of peace. I don’t know why, but I knew she was the one. Initially, we had looked for someone that looked like me, and she didn’t really, but I knew she was the one.

I will be 7 weeks pregnant tomorrow, and yesterday we found out we are having twins. I know this must read like a horror story, but I guess the moral of my story is that even when things seem impossible, we can not give up hope…

God Bless you on your journey… 

______________________

Double congratulations to Cindy and Mike, very special clients of Heartfelt Egg Donation. May your pregnancy continue to be healthy, joyous and full of wonder. I can't thank you enough for sharing your story and for providing encouragement to others. 

Heartfelt Egg Donation, llc to participate in National Infertility Awareness Week (April 24 - May 1, 2010)

I'm pleased to announce that Heartfelt Egg Donation, llc will participate in National Infertility Awareness Week (NIAW), April 24 - May 1, 2010. Our goal is to help raise awareness about infertility and family building options and to support RESOLVE, The National Infertility Association in their efforts to educate those who may be experiencing infertility or know of someone trying to conceive with difficulty.

Starting tomorrow, April 24, 2010, I'll provide information on how to educate yourself. You'll be given the tools to Take Charge with 7 things you can do in 7 days:

1. Educate yourself
2. Design a plan
3. Become an advocate
4. Send a free ecard message to someone
5. Impact your community
6. Navigate the Costs of Family Building
7. Find Support

I'm excited to see the information that will be coming from the infertility industry and those affected by infertility. What a great way to open the lines of communication and to help remove the stigma associated with infertility.

I came across an article/blog post by Connie Shapiro, PhD from yesterday titled "Celebrating Infertility Awareness Week". I encourage you to read it as it touches upon the many facets of infertility that are not discussed openly or frequently.

Through the eyes of an Egg Donor - My Story

Egg Donation is your one chance to truly answer a prayer

By Camille, a former Egg Donor through Heartfelt Egg Donation, llc

Ever since I can remember, I have known that I was adopted. I grew up in a small northern California town where families ate dinner together at the dining room table, kids talked to their parents about their day, and everyone was friends with their neighbors. It was a very close knit community; not for a second, did I ever feel I didn't belong.

My parents were the greatest blessing I ever received. My dad is a cattle rancher, a gold ole' boy, with old school morals and ideas that make him the strong father that I know. My mom is the woman that puts everyone before herself. She is the kind-hearted soul that everyone needs in their life. Our family is concrete, with a strong bond that will never fade and a love that shows every day. My brother and I were fortunate enough to be able to throw our parents a surprise 40th anniversary party. After watching the slide-show of our family that I made as a gift, they came over and hugged us with tears in their eyes. My mom said, "We are thankful everyday that we were able to adopt you two, how did we get so lucky? I love you".

We have always been an open family when it comes to talking about things. When I turned 18, I decided that I would like to find out who my birth-mother was. I went to my mom and told her about my interest. She made some calls and came back with some information on how to find birth-parents from a closed adoption. I took her advice and began my search. After making many calls, digging through papers and some waiting, I had a name! I realized that this name would have probably changed due to marriage but I had to give it a shot.

I went home for Christmas vacation, grabbed some friends and hit the road. I knew that I was born only 45 minutes from where I grew up. I was just hoping that she had given birth near where she was from, but knew that might not have been the case considering that many young women were sent to stay with relatives when they became pregnant. I decided to visit the court house and look for her birth certificate. I found it and recorded all the information off of it. I now had addresses, parents' names, etc. I then decided to go to some high schools. I visited about 6 schools and found nothing. I was loosing hope and some interest. About a week later I was visiting a friend in the city that I was born in. I always thought that there was no way she would have given birth in the same city that she was raised in and the agency would have never placed a child so close to their biological parents. I went to the first school and found nothing. I was pretty much done. My friend said, "There is only one more school, then we can be done". I agreed. We walked into the library with the excited librarian, eager to look through yearbooks. I grabbed the first yearbook that I saw. I opened the cover and hand written on the inside was, "Have a great summer" signed by my birth-mother! I couldn't believe it. I had found her!

Within the next week I had spoken with her and began a relationship. We continued to talk on the phone, exchanaged a few letters and emails. A few years later she passed away, before I was able to meet her. I had never experienced that kind of regret. It was a very strange feeling and it consumed me. I had lost my chance and would never get it back. Within the next few years I began a relationship with her daughter, my half sister. The strange thing about this is that I did not ever see my birth-mother as my mother but I did see my half-sister as my sister. Maybe because I had never had a sister. We have grown into great friends and have seen each other on a number of occassions. It feels like a blessing to have her in my life.

I decided to become an egg donor when I was 26 years old. I had just graduated college, got married, and started my first "real" job. My husband and I  were happy living in a small apartment in mid-town Sacramento. I had heard about egg donation and was interested to find that each family situation was different with special circumstances and demands. These families come from all different parts of the world and all different cultures. Some couples are all-male, some are all-female and others are traditional married couples; but all have a common dream: to have a child to love, cherish and raise.

Egg Donation was a perfect choice for me. I felt that this was my chance to make someone's dream come true. I cannot imagine my parents growing old without having children. I must admit that the compensation was also a deciding factor for my husband and me. This would help us start saving for our first house that we could start our family in. Once I felt I had found the right agency, I found the courage to apply and wait to see what happened from there. The application process with Heartfelt Egg Donation, llc was fairly painless: questions about my health, ancestry, hobbies and goals. I also participated in a medical evaluation and a psychological evaluation to ensure that I was mentally sane and healthy and had the intended parents' best interest at heart.

Not too long after, I received the first call from Suzanne Myers that would change the rest of my life, as well as those of others. She informed me that she had matched me with a family and wanted to know if I would consider working with them. I must say, at first I was surprised and a bit nervous that a couple foresaw their future family coming from my genetic material. I agreed to become their egg donor and was actually excited to start the process of doctor appointments and medication. Everything went smoothly throughout the entire process.

Soon after my first donation, I was blessed to become pregnant with my first child. My husband and I were ecstatic about the news. I gave birth to a precious baby girl! I now realized how very lucky I was to become pregnant and give birth to a healthy child with no complications along the way. I was so happy that I was able to make another family feel the joy that I had experienced.

I have been an egg donor twice and couldn't be happier to have been involved in this process. To help give life to a family is an incredible feeling that's tough to describe until you experience  it yourself. More than the financial reward, it made me feel righteously proud - a feeling that intensified when I heard that my first family gave birth to a beautiful baby. I look at my parents and am so thankful that everything worked out the way it did. I just know that some day that baby, with my genetic material, is going to look at their parents and feel the same way I do with my parents.

Now when I peak about my experiences as an egg donor, I am proud to share my story. Yes, the money was an important benefit, but I found myself very involved in the process and actually excited each time I had the opportunity to help. I am so happy that I have helped families who needed my assistance in creating their family. And so when people ask me why I am an egg donor, I respond back, "Why aren't you"?