How do egg donors feel about sharing their family history with a genetic counselor?

Of course, family history is an incredible gift for a future child's permanent health history, and reviewing a donor family tree with a genetic counselor can help shape the family history and genetic test results into a useful tool for a child conceived in a donor cycle. But we also know that this appointment may seem intimidating to egg donor candidates and we spend a lot of time thinking about how to best help integrate this important session so that it is informative, thoughtful, empathic, and straightforward for egg donor candidates.

We've been asking the egg donors who come to Advocate Genetics for their genetic screening appointment, and here is what they say:

How easy was it to schedule an appointment with us? Average score of 5/5! Meaning. . . Easy. ⭐

How would you rate the ease of communication with our team in preparation for your appointment? Average score of 5/5! Meaning. . . Easy. ⭐

How comfortable were you in sharing your personal medical history and your family history during the counseling session? Average score of 4.93/5! Meaning. . . Very Comfortable. ⭐

How would you rate your genetic counselor's understanding of your questions or the decisions you were facing? Average score of 5/5! Meaning. . . Best Understanding. ⭐

How burdensome was it to gather and share your family history in this session? Average score of 4.47/5! Meaning. . . Most donors found it not at all burdensome. ⭐ . . . But a few donors had to work a little harder to gather information, and we are so grateful to them for taking this responsibility seriously!

We also take this information seriously, and we are honored to be part of such an important experience for intended parents and donors alike. 

If you have a question about genetics and how it pertains to a pregnancy when you're working with an egg, sperm, or embryo donor, a genetic counselor can highlight the important issues and help you narrow down what is most important to you. Our match consultations are tailored for this very important discussion.