Another appeal for egg donors has been made in the UK - this time by a 23-year old woman who has already undergone her menopause. Gemma Fawcett has been trying for a baby with her partner since she was 18. When she was 21, her doctor told her that the reason she had been unsuccessful was that she was going through the menopause. She was then referred to the Newcastle Fertility Centre at the Centre for Life and began hormone treatment to try to counteract the effects of the menopause.
Menopause normally occurs when a woman is about 50 years old, but a small minority of women experience it prematurely. Doctors told Miss Fawcett that hers started when she was 19, but she had not noticed the signs. Instead, in an interview with the Daily Mail, she said she put her mood swings, hot flushes and the cessation of her periods down to the stress of not being able to conceive.
Last week, Miss Fawcett appealed for women to come forward as egg donors: her only chance of conceiving. However, according to the Daily Mail, 'an acute shortage of women prepared to donate their eggs threatens her dream'. In the interview, she said that while many women were waiting for fertility treatment, 'only a handful of women are coming forward to give the gift of life'. Dr Jane Stewart, from the Newcastle centre, said it had about 60 couples on the waiting list for egg donors, adding 'people don't always know about egg donation and we are always pleased to hear from people who want to find out more about it'.
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