Parents Via Egg Donation (PVED) is putting a call out to all parents and parents to be who would like to serve as an advisor on the PVED Advisory Board as a "Consumer Advisor". We are looking for individuals who have no professional ties or affiliation with the Infertility or Third Party Reproductive industry who are either attempting to be or are parents via egg donation.

If you are interested in hearing more about an advisory position and what that would entail please email: marna@pved.org or call PVED at 503.987.1433

Parents Via Egg Donation is a 501c3 Organization that was created to provide an informational and supportive environment where parents and parents-to-be can learn and share information about all facets of the egg donation process. Our mission is to educate, support, and empower families and individuals at any stage of the process who choose to use egg donation to build a family. We share information about agencies, legal and medical professionals, treatment centers, mental health therapists, pharmaceutical companies, and other resources.


Marna Gatlin
Parents Via Egg Donation
503.987.1433
marna@parentsviaeggdonation.org

http://pved.org
"Where ever you are in the process there is always a place in our community for you"

What PVED Does In A Month...

I get asked a lot "What exactly do you do? You are always so busy, either on the phone, answering emails or talking to clinics or agencies.

Here's what I did in the month of October:

We reached out and answered about 350 telephone calls regarding clinics, agencies, protocols, donor related questions, about the egg donation process.

We followed 19 pregnant women, called performing well checks, and we welcomed 5 babies into the fold!

We read and responded to over 1000 forum messages, and are you ready for this:

We responded to over 3800 individual emails for the month from Mom's and Dad's all over the globe who were needing support, information, and help regarding egg donation!

My day typically begins between five and six in the morning when the East Coast calls begin to roll in, I bring my email up to see what's filtered in from across the pond overnight, check our forum, put out any fires, and continue on with my day planning, or completing various PVED projects.

I may speak to a clinic or an agency in the morning, and tucked in between clinic conversations are emails, calls from parents, and I may throw together dinner in the crock pot or throw a load of laundry in the washer (I do work from home after all), or attend a telephone conference.

Afternoons are almost always reserved for meetings and conversations with parents, - as that's when folks usually either make time on their lunch to call, or the East Coast is getting home from work, in the privacy of their own homes and may need help with or encouragement with egg donor selection.

I take a few hours off in the early evening to spend time with my family catching up, running errands, and having dinner --and oh yes, putting away the laundry from earlier in my day. Once the family is settled for the night I begin to return the many emails and forum messages from the day, sometimes I even make a few telephone calls across the pond to our friends in Europe who are just getting up as my day is ending.

And then I go to bed and get up the next day and do it all again. And yes, I love what I am doing, I can't imagine doing anything else -- some months are busier than others -- October was a fairly typical month.

Women who give birth to donor egg babies are the biological moms

Freedom Pharmacy published this great booklet about egg donation -- here an excerpt:

“Perhaps the greatest myth surrounds pregnancy. Many believe the uterus is simply an incubator. Nothing could be further from the truth. The most important aspect of all pregnancies- including egg donation pregnancies- is that as the fetus grows, every cell in the developing body is built out of the pregnant mother’s body. Tissue from her uterine lining will contribute to the formation of the placenta, which will link her and her child. The fetus will use her body’s protein, then she will replace it. The fetus uses her sugars, calcium, nitrates, and fluids, and she will replace them. So, if you think of your dream child as your dream house, the genes provide merely a basic blueprint, the biological mother takes care of all the materials and construction, from the foundation right on up to the light fixtures. So, although her husband’s aunt Sara or the donor’s grandfather may have genetically programmed the shape of the new baby’s earlobe, the earlobe itself is the pregnant woman’s “flesh and blood.” That means the earlobe, along with the baby herself, grew from the recipient’s body. That is why she is the child’s biological mother. That is why this child is her biological child.”

Kimberly Powell also wrote:

"While not discounting that genetic tendencies may exist, supporters of the nurture theory believe they ultimately don't matter - that our behavioral aspects originate only from the environmental factors of our upbringing. Studies on infant and child temperament have revealed the most crucial evidence for nurture theories.

•American psychologist John Watson, best known for his controversial experiments with a young orphan named Albert, demonstrated that the acquisition of a phobia could be explained by classical conditioning. A strong proponent of environmental learning, he said: Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own specified world to bring them up in and I'll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select...regardless of his talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations and race of his ancestors.

•Harvard psychologist B. F. Skinner's early experiments produced pigeons that could dance, do figure eights, and play tennis. Today known as the father of behavioral science, he eventually went on to prove that human behavior could be conditioned in much the same way as animals.

•A study in New Scientist suggests that sense of humor is a learned trait, influenced by family and cultural environment, and not genetically determined.

•If environment didn't play a part in determining an individuals traits and behaviors, then identical twins should, theoretically, be exactly the same in all respects, even if reared apart. But a number of studies show that they are never exactly alike, even though they are remarkably similar in most respects.

So, was the way we behave ingrained in us before we were born? Or has it developed over time in response to our experiences? Researchers on all sides of the nature vs nurture debate agree that the link between a gene and a behavior is not the same as cause and effect. While a gene may increase the likelihood that you'll behave in a particular way, it does not make people do things. Which means that we still get to choose who we'll be when we grow up. "

: )

Genes must be ‘expressed’ within an individual in order to have an effect.

The same gene or genes can express in a number of different ways depending upon the environment. A gene can remain ’silent’ or unexpressed; it can be expressed strongly; it can be expressed weakly,and so on. There is also an entire field of study called imprinting having to do with which gene you ‘activate,’ the copy you received from your mother, or the copy you received from your father.

The field of epigenetics studies these phenomenon, and popular journalism is just starting to write about it. While the Human Genome Project was still underway, we usually heard genes referred to as ‘the Bible’ of the human being, as a kind of absolute truth concerning the fundamental nature of the individual.
That is now changing.

In a donor egg pregnancy, the pregnant woman’s womb is the environment.It is her genes, not the donor’s, that determine the expression of thedonor-egg baby’s genes.

A donor egg baby gets her genes from the donor; she gets the‘instructions’ on the expression of those genes from the woman who carries her to term.

This means that a donor egg baby has 3 biological parents: a father, the egg donor, and the woman who carries the pregnancy.

The child who is born would have been a physically & no doubt emotionally different person if carried by his genetic mother.

In horse breeding for example, it’s not uncommon to implant a pony embryo into the womb of a horse.
The foals that result, are different from normal ponies.They’re bigger. These animals’ genotype – their genes – are the same as a pony’s, but their phenotype – what their genes actually look like in the living animal – is different.

An Open Letter To The Media and General Public

Michael Jackson was the father of his children whether or not they were a product of donor eggs, donor sperm, or gestational carrier. The way in which the children were conceived has no bearing on Mr. Jackson’s role as the children’s legal, social, and only father, regardless of his celebrity status and history of complicated relationships.

Egg and sperm donation are considered forms of tissue donation, differing greatly from adoption or even organ donation. In typical egg or sperm donation contracts, it is fully understood by all parties that those donating or, in the case of a gestational surrogate, carrying are doing only that: donating or carrying. To be clear—donors give selflessly of themselves and touch their recipients' lives in wonderful, profound ways; however, they do not sign on for any future responsibility for offspring created using their gametes. Recipients of donor eggs or sperm—the intended parents—are responsible for the resulting children and are recognized as these children’s parents in a court of law.

Although it may be very tempting to delve into all aspects of the Jackson's’ lives at this time, the way in which his children were conceived is neither the business of the public nor has it any bearing on the appointment of their guardian. A sperm or egg donor is a donor, not a parent. The person who raises a child is a parent. Mr. Jackson was his children’s father, and his own mother—the children’s grandmother and Mr. Jackson’s preferred guardian in the event of his death—is a much more logical assumptive legal guardian than an alleged sperm donor who has no relationship with the children.

It is vitally important to the welfare of Mr. Jackson’s children that they be left alone to be cared for by their now legal guardian, Katherine Jackson, instead of being subjected to the media’s invasive and, simply put, ignorant speculations about their biological origins. Biology and legal/social parentage are two completely separate issues, and the media should therefore stop treating the subjects as if they are one and the same.
Sincerely,


Marna Gatlin
Founder
Parents Via Egg Donation
www.pved.org