Doctor Seeks Case Reports on Cancer Following Egg Donation

Dr. Jennifer Schneider became interested in the health of egg donors -- and in their possible long-term health risks following ovarian stimulation -- after her daughter was diagnosed with colon cancer at age 29.

Her daughter passed away a few years after going through several egg donation cycles.

There are virtually no long-term follow-up health studies on egg donors nor published medical papers on this subject. Egg donors are anxiously awaiting better research on the longitudinal risks. One egg donor wrote about being rejected by a clinic because she has a family history of breast cancer; the fertility clinic cited a higher risk of cancer due to estrogen exposure.

It bears repeating: It has been thirty years since donor eggs have been used and there are still no long-term studies on the health outcomes of egg donation.

Together with her colleagues, Dr. Schneider is now collecting case reports on egg donors who were subsequently diagnosed with breast cancer or other cancers after undergoing hormonal stimulation in order to produce multiple eggs.

If you have donated eggs and later were diagnosed with breast cancer, or other cancer such as ovarian or uterine, and are willing to help the study, you can reach out to Dr. Schneider directly at jennifer@jenniferschneider.com.

We invited Jennifer to write a bit about what you can expect.

Enter Jennifer.

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What to expect

If you agree, I will ask you for some information about your egg donation history and your cancer history, and will also ask you, if possible, to send me some medical records; if you don’t have them, it is usually possible (unless many years have elapsed) to request your physician or clinic to send some records. Your information will be kept confidential and anything we write about you will be anonymous.

About the study authors

Jennifer P. Schneider, MD, PhD is a nationally recognized expert in the management of chronic pain with opioids. She is certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine, the American Society of Addiction Medicine, and is a Diplomate of the American Academy of Pain Management. Dr. Schneider is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians and is the author of numerous papers in professional journals in the addiction and pain management fields as well as the book Living with Chronic Pain (Second Edition, 2009).

Jennifer Lahl is founder and president of The Center for Bioethics and Culture Network. Lahl couples her 25 years of experience as a pediatric critical care nurse, a hospital administrator, and a senior-level nursing manager with a deep passion to speak for those who have no voice. Lahl’s writings have appeared in various publications including the San Francisco Chronicle, the Dallas Morning News, and the American Journal of Bioethics. As a field expert, she is routinely interviewed on radio and television including ABC, CBS, PBS, and NPR. She is also called upon to speak alongside lawmakers and members of the scientific community, even being invited to speak to members of the European Parliament in Brussels to address issues of egg trafficking.

Wendy Kramer is the founder of the Donor Sibling Registry (DSR). With more than 48,800 worldwide members, the DSR has helped to facilitate contact between more than 12,900 people with their half siblings and/or their donors (biological parents). Without any outside support, the DSR has pioneered an international discussion about the donor conception industry and the families, with its research, speaking engagements and media appearances. Wendy has authored and co-authored many published articles and papers on donor conception, has reviewed abstracts for the American Society of Reproductive Medicine (ASRM), and has also been a peer reviewer for the journals Human Reproduction, Social Science and Medicine, and RBM Online. Wendy and her son Ryan have appeared on 60 Minutes, The Oprah Winfrey Show, Good Morning America, CBS Sunday Morning, and many other news shows and publications such as the NY Times, TIME and Newsweek.