Most college students are hard-pressed for cash. Many would give their left leg for a semester of tuition. But for female college students, all it takes is a little time-and a few of their own eggs.

The Center for Disease Control reports that women in federally monitored programs donated eggs more than 10,000 times in the year 2004 alone. Their eggs would essentially go to couples who have difficulty getting pregnant on their own.

The CDC also reports that the use of Assisted Reproductive Technologies has almost doubled from 1999 to 2008. That means more people are using health science technologies to improve their chances of getting pregnant.

For anywhere from $2,500 to $3,000, a healthy, non-smoking woman between the ages of 19 and 30 can donate her eggs to the Huntsville Reproductive Medicine center. A potential egg donor must have an average body weight, or a BMI, less than 30. They must also have at least some college education. Ethnicity doesn’t matter, so long as the donor is able to meet the qualifications.

Women who cannot conceive a child due to genetic disorders, or diseases which have left them unable to have an infant of their own are the ones willing to pay for donated eggs. The cost of the donation process is covered by the recipient couple, and donation is typically anonymous. If a donor wants to be a known donor, there are options for that as well.

For instance, if someone is unable to conceive, they may ask a friend or relative to donate eggs.

Huntsville Reproductive Medicine makes it clear that they are not buying the eggs, but that still doesn’t stop some people from worrying.

Staci Gatlin, a UNA student worker, said, “The fact that you get paid for it makes me wonder if women do it for the right reasons. If the participants are doing it to help out infertile mothers, I don’t see anything wrong with it.”

Gatlin said if it came down to it, she would be more than willing to accept egg donations, or to donate eggs.

The money that is paid to donors is a compensation for the time that they have taken while they undergo the donation process. It involves a commitment on the part of the donor, as multiple visits may be necessary so that the clinic can check on a donor’s progress.

The process begins with a screening at the clinic. Then, there is a medical questionnaire that the donor must fill out, and the donor will then consult with a nurse coordinator and a physician from the donor team. The donor is given medication to stimulate egg production, and during the first 12 days of this part of the process, blood samples and ultrasounds will constantly be taken.

There is no evidence that egg donation harms a woman’s chances of conceiving on her own. Eggs are lost all the time during a woman’s cycle, so the idea behind egg donation is to take eggs that would otherwise be lost and give them to someone else who needs them. At the end of the process, the eggs are retrieved with little pain and discomfort through a trans-vaginal ultrasound, and the donor can continue their regular activities the next day.

As for those considering in-vitro, Beverly Hostetler, a Registered Nurse, warns that, “Only 30 to 35 percent of in-vitro is successful when it comes to people aged 30 to 35.”

Those odds decline with age. She said that unless a couple is really intent on conceiving a child of their own, they should consider alternatives such as adoption.

“When it comes to adoption, the success rate is usually 100 percent,” she said.

For more information regarding egg donation, call Huntsville Reproductive Medicine at 256-213-BABY (2229), or contact them via their website at hsvrm.com.