Parents audition actresses — for their eggs
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| Robyn Marie Young made between $8,000 and $10,000 for her first egg donation |
Egg “agents” are aggressively recruiting city models and actresses, whose looks are coveted by couples turning to in-vitro fertilization.
Robyn Young, who has appeared in shows such as “Boardwalk Empire,” at first rejected the ads on casting sites such as Backstage.com. But the money proved too much to resist — she made between $8,000 and $10,000 for her first donation, in 2009.
“I didn’t want to be a stripper. I wanted to figure out my career, so there was really no other choice at the time,” Young said.
After that donation, her name was entered into a database. Now egg agents call constantly.
“I waited a year and a half for the second one. I kept saying no, no, no and finally said OK,” she recalled.
“I’m a hot commodity because I’m athletic and have green eyes.”
Now 28, she’s in the process of donating her eggs for a third time.
“I haven’t even started with the hormones for this one, and [the agent] is already trying to get me to sign the contract for the fourth,” Young said.
The process begins with an agency setting up video interviews with different couples until one picks her.
Young says she was nervous during her first interview.
“I want them to know who I really am. I’m not trying to put on a mask, because it’s ultimately going to be their kid,” she said.
Agents do a full background check that includes academic marks, blood test for diseases, as well as a psych exam. Young says that despite her good high-school GPA, she could have made up to $20,000 with a better SAT score.
“Some of these couples are very rich businessmen,” she said. “They want to make sure it’s someone with a good head on their shoulders.”
Each time Young donates, she’s put on hormones for two to nine weeks to increase her egg production.
The harvesting is painful.
“You’re put under for about 20-30 minutes, and afterwards you feel sore, bloated and just want to rest,” she said.
Young can donate up to six times, but she says she is reluctant to do so.
“They tell you all the things that can go wrong but not the long-term effects because they don’t know them,” she said. “They say there are none, but you lose eggs, and it increases your risks of getting cysts. And you can only take so much.”
Young has seen more actresses donating eggs and says younger women seek her out for information as they consider giving themselves.
She attributes the trend to a shift in priorities among those in her industry.
“There’s less of a drive toward marriage and giving birth and now a drive toward career and ambition,” she said.
As for the “family” she may produce from her eggs, Young may never know the results. She knows some of her eggs have been frozen for future use, but she has signed a waiver agreeing that she is not promised any information on the outcome.
Those close to her have been reluctant to give support, but Young says she never hid what she was doing.
“Everyone said don’t tell anyone, and I said, ‘If I’m going to give a gift, I’m not going to be ashamed,’ ” she recalled. “Knowing you’re giving life is what gets me through it.”
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