Patient experiences in advertising for an egg donor

Advertising is a commonly used means of recruiting an egg donor within Australia. The aim of this study was to explore the experiences and outcomes of people’s attempts to recruit an egg donor through advertising in a printed publication, Melbourne’s Child. Individuals and couples who placed a new advertisement between July 2007 and December 2008 were invited to participate (n = 84), and those who expressed interest were mailed a questionnaire specifically designed for the purposes of this study. Thirty-one advertisers (37%) agreed to be sent the questionnaire and 28 were completed and returned (33%). Results showed that over half (56%) of respondents successfully recruited an egg donor through their advertisement in Melbourne’s Child, 75% received at least one genuine reply and most people received a response within 2 weeks (50%) or 1–2 months (32%) after publication. At the time of completing the questionnaire, 48% had undergone a treatment cycle using donor eggs. Advertising was recalled as a stressful experience and 79% of respondents felt that more information about the success of advertising would have been helpful prior to embarking on this process. Results will be used to inform current clinical practice in assisting patients to recruit an egg donor.