After a long Monday at work as a medical assistant, Holly Byers comes home to her new apartment where she is greeted by a towering stack of envelopes on her granite counter tops.
Inside those envelopes are a variety of bills. Her rent, her health insurance, her cell phone, and her car payments are among the stack. The most looming payment, however, is her college loan.
“I’m prepared for it, but it sucks,” Byers, 23, said.
As the interest on her loan rises, she now is considering an additional way to earn money, in hopes of paying off her student debt- by donating her eggs to a fertility clinic.
As college tuition increases, more students and college graduates are beginning to consider donating their eggs to fertility clinics as a way to make substantial money instead of taking out loans for school.
“About 78 percent of our donors are college graduates or are perusing degrees,” said Kasey Murphy, marketing project manager for the egg donor program at Shady Grove Fertility.
According to Shady Grove, the donation process spans over months an includes blood tests, ultrasounds, psychological evaluations, ovarian stimulation, and an egg retrieval involving anesthesia. Women must apply to become donors, which can be difficult since only 3 percent of applicants are accepted.
Shady Grove requires all donors to be between the ages of 21 to 32.
“It’s a very big personal decision,” said Murphy. “I don’t know if women younger than 21 would be prepared to make that decision.”
Shady Grove also prefers women who have a college education.
“We target woman who have gone to college,” Murphy said.
According to Murphy, Shady Grove prefers college graduates, however, they do not target or advertise specifically to college students on campuses
Compensation for egg donations range depending on the clinic. At Shady Grove, donors can earn up to $7,000 over the course of the donation process, and up to $8,000 per additional egg.
Due to the rising costs of college tuition, young women are starting to weigh the option of donating.
“It’s basically $8,000 for a life,” said Kayla Labrador, freshman at Rowan College at Burlington County.
According to Murphy, younger women are likely to have more eggs.
“The age at which egg fertility drops drastically is age 35” she continued.
Labrador, 19, would be too young to donate at Shady Grove, however, she believes that being younger could be a benefit to the donation process.
“I think that’s the best option,” she said. “Not a lot of girls that age are having children anyways.”
Even though Shady Grove compensates donors, they do not want the payments to drive women to make donations.
“We don’t want women to do it just to make money,” said Murphy.
According to Murphy, the process can take three to four months and is a big medical commitment. She says that women who do it solely for the compensation are less likely to make it all the way through the process.
“We wouldn’t want anyone to make rash decisions,” she added. “It’s a very big personal decision.”
Labrador looks at the experience as a way for women to earn safe money. Instead of applying for easy jobs or harmful ones, like prostitution, young women now have an alternative.
“I’d rather see younger girls giving life than disrespecting themselves,” she said. “The concept is good.”
Labrador adds that being in school shouldn’t make a difference to the donation process.
“Do it in college because in reality, after college, you’re either focusing on your degree or your job. It’s better to be younger,” Labrador said.
Byers, who graduated in 2013 with an associates in science, said she began paying off her student loans the day after graduating.
“I think so far I’ve paid $6,000 on it. But there’s $900 interest every year,” She added.
She says that she would be up to donating in hopes of getting a head on her bills.
“Since I still owe students loans, I would look into it,” Byers added. “I’d have to do it twice to pay off my student loans.”
Labrador, who is a freshman in college, knows of the financial burdens college may place on her in the future.
“I think college is too expensive,” She says. “This is a way to take a lot of pressure off, while potentially giving someone else a life- a child.”
As she makes her monthly payment of $100 towards her loan, Byers contemplates the commitment and reward that donating could have in her life and in the lives of those who need her donation.
“Money really helps you, but the fact that your helping someone else is really an added benefit,” she adds. “That’s why I’d do it.”
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