ALL young women assume they are able to have children. Even those who don't want to have babies think that they would have no problem producing a child if they changed their minds.
So it is somewhat shocking to discover that there thousands of women desperate to become mothers who have to face up to the fact that they may never have a longed-for child.
Among the many reasons why a woman may be unable to become pregnant is premature menopause, when the only real hope of motherhood is with the aid of donated eggs.
This is the situation in which Margaret Burgess finds herself. The 36 year old who lives in a village outside Dursley is anxiously waiting for the chance to be given a donated egg. But there is a severe shortage of women who are not only willing to donate eggs but are also suitable candidates.
Margaret, who is on an egg donation waiting list at both the Lister Hospital in London and the University of Bristol Centre for Reproduction, is involved with the Daisy Network, set up six years ago to support women who suffer an early menopause.
"One per cent of the female population under 40 go through early menopause," said Margaret.
"For some an early menopause is brought on by a surgical cause, perhaps to treat cancer. But for some unknown reason, many women are genetically programmed for an early menopause. It can happen at any age and for more than 40 per cent there is no known cause.
"The biggest problem of all is the length of time it takes to get a diagnoses - and all the time a women's childbearing years are slowly slipping away."
Margaret Burgess was 29 when menopause struck. "I was about to get married and came off the pill. I had a couple of periods and then they stopped. Quite naturally I was thrilled. I thought I was pregnant."
But the joy was short-lived. After a pregnancy test proved negative she visited her GP who referred her to a gynaecologist and after a lot more tests she discovered her ovaries had stopped working.
"I had been married for just six weeks when I was told that if I wanted a family, I would have to go down the egg donation route. It came out of the blue. To learn that I couldn't have children was truly shocking."
For a while Margaret blamed herself, going over and over her life and trying to work out if there was something she had done - or hadn't done - to cause her early menopause.
"In the end I learned to stop blaming and accepted things as they were. I am now looking for egg donation and have been on the waiting list for two years," she said.
Now Margaret is hoping that this article in the Gazette will help her to find a donor.
There are national standards and guidelines for egg donation. Donors, who receive counselling before they are accepted, should be under the age of 36 (the younger the woman, the better quality the eggs).
Margaret pointed out that the Lister Hospital had set up an egg sharing scheme. Women who are going forward for IVF treatment because, although they have an abundance of eggs, they cannot become pregnant for other reasons, can donated eggs to an early menopause patient and get their IVF treatment free. With one session of IVF costing in the region of £4,000, this is a big incentive.
Nevertheless, donors - whether they are IVF patients or not - are scarce.
"Nationally there is a severe shortage of donors," said Zoe Rutlege, the ovum donation recruitment officer at the Lister Hospital.
"At any one time we have between 400 and 500 women waiting for eggs. Each faces at least an 18 month wait for a single treatment attempt."
She said that the egg donation programme, which started in 1988 was now becoming more and more acceptable.
"Premature menopause is nothing new. It has always been a problem but until recently, definitely not something anyone talked about. Previously women who were infertile had two options - adopt or remain childless.
"Now, with egg donation, there is a real chance that infertile women will be able to have a child."
Women who would like to find out more about egg donation should contact Zoe Rutledge at the Lister Hospital on 0207 2599038; Janice Hayhurst at the University of Bristol Centre for Reproduction on 0117 9021100 or visit the Daisy Network website daisynetwork.org.uk
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