Jenni’s story about donating: I help because I can

I’ve wanted children for as long as I can remember. Even at a young age, I remember thinking that I would study first and then immediately have children. And that’s exactly how my life went. I had my first child at the age of 26, and my second a little over a year later.

While I was still at home with my children, I came across a conversation about egg donation. I had never thought about the fact that eggs were also needed. I had donated blood many times, and the significance of that donation was clear to me. I didn’t think about it for long; I found out where eggs were collected, and I got in touch with them.

I hadn’t lost sleep over those people who want children but can’t have them, and as far as I knew, there were no people suffering from infertility in my close circle. I was the first in my group of friends to have children, and many were only considering having children when I was already donating eggs. But I’ve always felt strongly about the kind of person I want to be, and on the other hand, don’t want to be.

In a way, I donated eggs for very self-centered reasons because I want to be the kind of person who helps when they can. Not specifically because I’m giving someone a chance at a child, but because I have the opportunity to help, and then I have to help. That’s the kind of person I want to be, and that’s how I want to see myself. It sounds very pragmatic, but for my own identity, these kinds of choices have a really significant and even emotional meaning for me.

I understood very well the discomforts of the procedure for myself, the hormone injections, ultrasounds, and egg retrieval, but in those uncomfortable moments, what motivated me was what my discomfort enabled for the egg recipients. Even though the first time I matured enough eggs for a small village, I still donated them several more times.

I’ve never had the chance to donate much money to worthy causes, but eggs, blood, stem cells, and my time. Those are the things I’ve wanted to give because I can. I believe people donate eggs for very different reasons, but the reasons don’t matter as much because they are all equally valuable and necessary for their recipients. When the topic has come up in different contexts, it’s been strange to be seen as a hero by strangers when I’ve always approached it so pragmatically.

Jenni Blomberg, donor