We had to complete a psychological evaluation before being approved to match with an egg donor. Apparently, the ethics committee thinks that's only fair since the donor has to pass one in order to be approved to donate. As frustrating as it is to submit to evaluation in order to be approved to even try (you adopting parents know what I'm talking about and then some), I was also a little glad to get a glimpse of how our donor would be evaluated, though I know there are different sets of questions for each of us.
The appointment was scheduled for two hours, but it ended up being more like two and a half. We decided that the first "test" must have been the bad directions we were given to locate the office. We arrived at the correct reception area only to be greeted by a sign telling us to alert the desk downstairs where we checked in that the office was un-staffed and they should let someone know we were waiting. This is in spite of the fact that our instructions specifically said to pass by the downstairs desk without stopping and proceed directly upstairs. The girl at the desk downstairs was equally confused and didn't seem to know our evaluator at all, nor were we on her list of check-ins for the day.
We did eventually get checked in and our evaluator called us to come back to the testing room. The first part of the appointment involved filling in about 350 scantron bubbles. The idea is to rate each statement either False, Slightly True, Mostly True or Very True. We did get to stay together and we had a good giggle over the questions, identifying control questions and speculating about some of the issues the test was designed to highlight. If they had cameras in that room to video us, it must have been entertaining! We each took turns doing hushed impressions of our hidden evaluator. At one point, my Hidden Evaluator noted, "Subject is a terrible snob."
After we finished filling in the bubble test, the evaluator came back in the room and asked us questions about our personal backgrounds and family histories. When she said we seemed quite well adjusted, Prof high-fived me and said, "Alright babe, we fooled her!"
She also told us a little about the process the donors go through, as she is the evaluator for them as well. She described them as falling into two basic categories. One group is young health/medical professionals who do not want children of their own, have an understanding of what infertility patients are suffering and see their own eggs as "going to waste". They tell her they aren't using their eggs, and someone who wants/needs them might as well benefit. The second group is young mothers who are so happy and grateful for their own children that they want to give someone else that same gift. Either way, the financial compensation offered by our clinic is low enough that the money is not a significant motivator for any of the potential donors.
The results took longer than than they told us (three weeks instead of one), but we finally heard back last week. We are officially cleared to move forward. One more box checked off!
