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Nicola Hughes may well have a child that she didn't give birth to and may never see...

Nicola Hughes from Gillingham in Kent has donated 17 of her eggs to couples who can't have children of their own. Nicola is 31, and she and her husband Gavin have three children of their own, James is 5,Richard 8, and Anna is a year old. Although she's been sterilised, her body continiues to produce eggs which she donates. She doesn't get paid for doing this, and it includes an in depth assessment to see whether she'd make a suitable donor. "The counsellor who checks that you're donating your eggs for the right reason pushes the emotional buttons to see if you're really capable of giving up what is fundamentally part of you."

Nicola was initially sent an information pack which gave details of the whole process, including the self-injection of hormones required to stimulate the body beforehand, "It all sounded a bit traumatic," admits Gavin "I thought this is a lot to put yourself through for no personal gain other than to the will to do good for others." The hormones can induce mood swings, similar to PMT, and Gavin had to be prepared to cope with these emotional changes. Checks were also made on Nicola's genetic history to assess the risk of disability.

"I explained it to my sons in the most ludicrous way!" says Nicola, "I said think of mummy as a chicken. Mummy doesn't need those eggs any more, but other ladies don't have their own eggs, so mummy the chicken is giving the egg to another lady..." And the thought that there may be a baby in the world that is partly her is not an aspect of egg donation which worries Nicola, "This may sound strange, but I don't class it as part of me, because I haven't given birth to that child. To me it is body tissue. I don't have any emotional attachment to those eggs.." A key part of the counselling addressed Gavin's concern that the children who result from the donated eggs may possibly find out who the donor was, "It could be quite disruptive if someone turns up in 18 years time, saying 'Hello, I'm your son ..."

The whole process of donating eggs takes about two weeks in all, including recovery time, but as Nicola says, "It's a fairly intense period. I have every intention of doing it again. But it's not for everybody, I agree.."

A choice is given on how much information the donor wants to know, such as whether a baby results from the donation. There is however, a limit to the amount of information the donor is allowed to know. "The most I can know," says Nicola "is that a baby has been born. It does depend on the parents of that baby whether they tell me the sex." Gavin too, is happy with this, "I don't want to know more than that, I don't think it's necessary."

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