Egg Donation: Is It Worth the Big Money?

"[The donor agency representative] said other people have done it up to 16 to 18 times. And they are totally fine," Derek said.

Fertility doctors say that women who do this more than recommended are taking a serious risk.

"You're playing Russian roulette with your future fertility and your future health," says Dr. Robert Stillman, director of the Shady Grove Fertility Center in Rockville, MD, who has not worked with any of the egg donors mentioned in this article. "The more you ovulate, the greater the risk of ovarian cancer. So if these stimulated cycles are more risk, then there may be more potential as [these donors] age in their seventies and eighties to get cancer."

The risk raises questions about whether the money these women are paid is worth the ultimate cost: their health.