Donor Recipient
When a hopeful mommy-to-be is denied the knowledge of her future egg donor's true identity, she sheds her ultra-conservative nature and embarks on a rule-breaking journey, even if it means not liking what she finds out.
Written & Directed by Julissa Scopino
Official Selections
Oniros Film Awards- New York 2020
Santa Monica International Film Festival 2020
Director's Statement
The story of "Donor Recipient" permeates within the shadowy underbelly of the infertility world. When a modern-day person thinks of a "donor," they automatically associate the term with the LQBTQ community and their pursuits in family building. Rarely do they correlate the word with a heterosexual couple. Yet, using a donor to build a family is far more significant in a heterosexual environment than we think and acknowledge to be suitable by society's standards today. Not to mention how these cases continue growing exponentially as the female role evolves in society.
My passion for this subject was ignited while doing my own IVF. I had been egg harvesting successfully for years, never resulting in a full-term pregnancy. During my last harvest, my doctor introduced the egg donor option as a last resort if my eggs didn't make it through the IVF transfer process, in which eggs go through a five-day trial period. Using a donor was so foreign and inconceivable that I laughed in defense. My naiveté of the donor world resided along with 90% of our population. Yet, when my doctor shared that he performs about seven donor implantations a month for heterosexual couples versus about one donor implantation per month for an LQBTQ couple, I immediately knew this subject needed a voice.