It is a sad time when a donor who has been with us for many years, donates for the last time, because of age. I’ve spent 4 of her 5 donations with Sophie and she (and her big sister, also a donor) in many countries. They have brought their Mom, Aunt and Husband/ Boyfriends on these trips. All have become family to me. I hope Sophie will visit again with me in California, even though she will not be donating. Her sister has!

-Robin Newman

Essay from donor Sophie about her last donation:

This was my 5th time donating and probably my last, because I’m 31 years old now. But there was something new for me this trip, as it was my first time in Cyprus, the other times had been in California and Barbados. I traveled to Cyprus with my boyfriend and we chose to rent a car at the airport (they drive on the left too, yay!) so we drove to the beautiful old town of Nicosia the evening we landed. 

My first appointment was at 9am the next morning - my patient coordinator picked me up and took me to the clinic which was a short drive away. The appointment only took about 10 mins, I had an ultrasound where the doctor checked my progress, then he gave me instructions on when to stop my meds and take my trigger shot. I had been taking meds for about a week and am really lucky as I had no bloating or other side-effects at all. I’m told this isn’t always the case and I know my sister always bloats a lot when donating.  

I took my trigger shot about 3 days later, then the following day was a day of meds and at 6.30am the next day I was picked up and taken to the clinic for my retrieval. I always quite enjoy being put to sleep which is a bit weird! The anesthetist was really nice and spoke great English as she had lived in London for a long time. I was wide awake within the hour and delighted when the nurse bought me tea and toast as I love breakfast! As soon as I felt well enough (which was pretty much immediately) I was sent home with some painkillers. I had quite a lazy day that day and just walked to a local cafe for lunch and dinner. I had very mild pain when walking but took some painkillers which helped. 

As for Cyprus, we stayed in Nicosia which is in the middle of the island. Our favourite part of the trip was when we walked to the Turkish side of the island (take your passport) and learnt more of the history, we saw old gun forts and damage to buildings from gunfire. I also loved the Turkish tea! Nicosia has quite a few nice little cafes and restaurants so there are lots of places to eat. 

We drove out to the beach 3 days, one day we went to a beach directly south called Secret Paradise, another day we drove around Aga Napa, and our favourite beach was one really close to the airport. We swam in the sea (even though it was quite cold) and walked along the promenade and ate in a nice restaurant. 

We had a pretty quiet, restful week in Cyprus. I’m used to active adventure holidays - but it was nice to take it easy and go slow on the sleepy little island. 

All I can do now is hope that one of my eggs allows the recipient to fall pregnant. I really wish them all the luck in the world. As always, thanks to Karen at Global Egg Donors for always being on the other end of WhatsApp come day or night and taking care of all the logistics for us.