Confessions of a Serial Egg Donor |  | Author: Julia Derek
Publisher: Adrenaline Books
Category: Book
Buy New: $15.95
as of 9/6/2010 17:34 MDT details
New (2) Used (13) from $14.00
Seller: Amazon.com
Rating:  24 reviews
Sales Rank: 184048
Media: Paperback
Pages: 240
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.3
ISBN: 0974907901
Dewey Decimal Number: 920
EAN: 9780974907901
ASIN: 0974907901
Publication Date: August 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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Product Description
Growing by nearly 20 percent annually, the business of egg donors is exploding in the United States. Demand for young womens eggs keeps outstripping the supply in an ever-accelerating pace, prompting the compensation to skyrocket from $250 per donation in 1984 to $100,000 in some cases today. Every year more outlets are created to satisfy this demand. These infertility businesses are at war to attract top donors, virtually unsupervised by either government or private association. In fact, they have established their own guidelines. And their primary targets are vulnerable college girls
Confessions of a Serial Egg Donor tells the true and disturbing story of how an independent college girl got so caught up by the tens of thousands of dollars she was making on her eggs her body shut down. With brutal honesty, always applying her own brand of humor, she will describe exactly what it was like to be a twelve-time egg donor, including how the broker of her eggs betrayed her viciously in the end.
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 24
 Forget Credit Cards - Hawking One's Eggs Is the Modern Girl' January 18, 2005
Marianne Halvorsen (Dana Point, California)
8 out of 9 found this review helpful
"How did I end up like this? This was not the way I had planned it." These are but some of the questions the protagonist of Confessions of a Serial Egg Donor asks herself in the deeply emotional prologue that jumpstarts this edgy and unusual memoir. And like the title promises, it's truly a confession of a serial egg donor.
The author, Julia Derek, loses no time getting into the meat of the story, appropriately naming the first chapter And So It Began: Having been in America only three months, this Swedish journalism student realizes that she has never been able to afford studying abroad in the first place. Now, if she can't come up with a way to make more money, she has to return to her home country. She is determined to stay, however. Unable to work legally in the U.S., she decides to become an egg donor. Though her first donation is difficult, it doesn't take long before she becomes a repeat donor.
In sparse, fast-paced prose that never misses a beat, we get to know the thought-process behind Julia's decision to continue over and over. Her honesty manages to be fetching even in its harshest moments. And not only is the mechanics of the donation-procedures described down to a T - with many hilarious occasions chronicling Julia's obsession with the daily shots an egg donor is forced to inject herself with - the cast is also richly drawn, perhaps one more fully so than the rest. I'm talking about Julia's confidante and partner in crime: the warm and approachable Ruth, the broker of her eggs. Eager to comply with Julia's wish to continue selling her eggs, Ruth makes sure to find interested parties throughout the city. Together, the two seem to become unbeatable. Unfortunately, as they approach the ninth donation, problems begin to occur. And thereafter, gradually, everything falls apart.
What makes this into such a good and worthwhile book, however, is that the author so clearly shies away from taking the easy route. The most apparent approach to the subject matter would be to make it into something maudlin, a victim's story that could easily be adapted into a Lifetime-TV Movie-of-the-Week. But that would be such a sell-out and Julia Derek is far too clever and creative an author for such a thing. Instead, she opts to educate the reader about the many aspects of this vast, unexplored world while telling a story that is in your face yet subtle. The narrative is filled with lots of black humor and the pacing appropriate. Each chapter poignantly deals with the many challenges women of today face when donating their eggs. The quirky chapter-headings deserve a mention - Laying Eggs, Rebel in a Wheelchair, Choking Beer Barrel - to name a few. If you read the contents-page alone, you see that it's almost as if these headings tell a story of their own.
Confessions of a Serial Egg Donor is a book every college girl ought to read in order to inform themselves about this rapidly expanding and decidedly dangerous business - and their mothers, too.
a real person, not a robot January 15, 2006
Lise Ellingsen (chicago)
7 out of 8 found this review helpful
This memoir was one of the better books I've read recently. Quite honestly, I didn't have high expectations when I picked it up, so I was pleasantly surprised. The best thing about it was the author's persona, her humor and unafraid honesty. I really liked that she didn't portray herself as one of those ridiculous people who blame the world for the bad choices they make. Considering the touchy subject matter, the story could easily have derailed into one long whiney diatribe. However, Derek is brave enough to admit that she is actually a human being, not one of those Stepford Wife women/robots who never make stupid mistakes. And she points out repeatedly that she herself chose to keep donating. Did she get bad advice from someone she should be able to trust? Sure. Should she have stopped earlier? Sure. But she didn't. Daring to be this real makes for an interesting memoir.
How anyone can accuse Derek of blaming others for her situation baffles me - she's not blaming anyone. Did Ella Menna below actually read the entire book or just the back cover? It sure doesn't seem so from her writing. If she did read it, she seems to have missed the very point of it, that no one is really to blame! It was just a situation that spiraled out of control. No one foresaw what was going to happen. Ruth, the egg broker, isn't an evil person who knew Derek would end up like she did. But was she a coward who didn't take responsibility for her actions? Definitely. Then again, Ruth is, like Derek, simply a human being.
Light, Moody and Charismatic, all in one!! March 23, 2005
Daydreamer (Athens, Georgia, USA)
7 out of 9 found this review helpful
This book wasn't what I expected from the serious cover. Actually I didn't know what to expect from it. At first the story was light and happy and then, when I was half through it, it began to change, becoming dark and moody. All in all, it was very entertaining with a serious message. I liked the main character Julia because she was alive and real, very charismatic, which made the story very interesting. The other main character, Ruth, the egg broker, was so fake and cared only about her own stuff. From the very first moment I couldn't stand her, but it was easy to see why Julia kept listening to her even after she fell ill. I think this is a book that's suited for a broad audience, not just young women and the fact that it's a true story made you think about what you had read for a long time afterwards. I will give it five stars because not only does it teach an important lesson but it also something of a black comedy. If you're looking for a book that's funny and serious at the same time, this is the perfect choice.
great book September 4, 2006
Dana L. Stonestreet (San Francisco, CA)
7 out of 9 found this review helpful
If you're a fan of Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood" and "Breakfast at Tiffany's", you will not only get "Confessions of a Serial Egg Donor", you will love it. Having met the author in person, I must admit that the number one reason I decided to buy and read this book was because she was such an interesting person. The egg donor business has never really been on my mind. I figured, anything she has written must be captivating. And it was, much in the way the titles mentioned above are, not in a sensational manner like James Frey's so-called memoir. This book is a lot more sophisticated, which is why some people might miss the point. It's not a book that points fingers, it's just a well-told and entertaining report of the dirty underbelly of the egg donor world. The author lets the reader make up his or her own mind regarding the message. In short, if you're looking for an Oprah-style, over-the-top abuse story, this is not the book for you.But if you're looking for originality and learning about the perils facing young egg donors, it definitely is.
Page-turner May 8, 2007
Laura (New York, NY)
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
I found this book quite useful in providing a personal perspective on egg donation. Readers follow Derek from D.C. to LA, witness to the financial struggles, career shifts, and adventurous spirit of a modern woman in her twenties. It is written as a memoir and reads as one-- personal and descriptive. Meanwhile, it does not delve into self-indulgence, so that the story expressed is clear, interesting, and succinct. It is quite a page-turner, difficult to put down.
Derek generously shares this highly personal experience with the world, not for a specific political purpose or effect, but simply to provide more information on her experience in the quiet business of egg donation. Meanwhile, it does demonstrate an eerie recurring somewhat absence of concern for the health of the donor on the parts of the recipients and those involved in egg harvesting. Reading it caused me to pause and wonder why what some have called the "wild west" fertility industry has been allowed to seek women as young as 18 to "donate" their eggs for inappropriately enticing sums.
I would recommend this book to anyone seeking an interesting read or a personal description of egg donation.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 24
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