Donor Recipient

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 "donor" with a heterosexual couple. Yet, using a donor, also known as a biological supporter, 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 as I was introduced to this option during my last 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 to me 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. This film is the first IVF film associated with an anthology of other films about alternative reproduction for women. I spent over a decade pursuing IVF. It's a world I am very familiar with.

In my own IVF story, I'm the proud mom of four frozen embryos and in search of a surrogate. One day, I hope to share my own individual story of my IVF experience with the world. I believe it will have a happy ending.