o-042 results from the polar body proof of principle study

introduction: To further expand the ongoing investigation into the motivations, compensation, uses of compensation received and personal thoughts on anonymous donation versus known/identity release donation. Two previous studies have shown that the primary motivation of oocyte donors is altruistic, but were based on studies from a single IVF centers donor pool. A previous study by this author looked at regionally diverse first time donors that showed primary and secondary motivations were monetary followed by altruistic. This study looks at a group of agency donors at geographically diverse IVF centers. design: Qualitative survey, using a phenomenological approach. materials and methods: Online questionnaire utilizing http://www.surveymoney.com/, which was emailed to all donors who had donated through the agency in the previous three years. A reminder email was sent at two 10 days intervals to remind potential participants who had not responded. The survey was anonymous. results: One hundred forty five surveys were emailed to previous donors. Nine ty-nine surveys were returned. All survey’s met the study criteria. The donors ranged in age from 21 to 30 with 44% between 24 and 26 years old. The ethnic background of the donors was 78% Caucasian with 56% employed full time and 41% full time students. “Help someone have a family”, was the number one reason for donation with 74% of respondents. Financial compensation was second with 48% of respondents and “Family member/friend had infertility” the third place reason with 22%. The primary use for the compensation was “Pay off Debt” for 68% of respondents with “Savings” and “Vacation” ranked second and third. The overwhelming majority of donors would donate even if they were no longer anonymous. With donors listing their ethnicity as Asian being 100% opposed to known donations. 100% of the donors stated they would donate again. conclusions: Oocyte donors can be motivated by many factors, and the conventional wisdom has been that financial compensation and remaining anony mous were primary motivators. While compensation is still a major inducement to oocyte donation, this study shows that helping another woman have a family was the most compelling reason by the majority of respondents. Additionally, the majority of the donors state they would still donate even if they were no longer anonymous and this does provide information for IVF centers and potential recipients about the direction that oocyte donation is taking in the US, especially with regard to more openness and less anonymity. Oocyte donors in the US are becoming more open about oocyte donation and this is leading to improved ability to recruit even non-anonymous donors.