Edinburgh campaign for more egg and sperm donors is supported by IVF couple delighted to be parents

‘Becoming an egg or sperm donor is one of the most selfless things that you can do’

A delighted couple from West Lothian who had a baby through IVF are backing a campaign to recruit more egg and sperm donors.

For more than a year, Laura McCabe, 39, and Stacey McCabe, 37, suffered repeated disappointments in six rounds of fertility treatment before receiving the life-changing news in March 2022 that Laura was pregnant after having IVF alongside a sperm donation. Nine months later, Laura gave birth to a healthy baby boy called Mason.

A year on, the couple from Linlithgow are encouraging anyone considering egg or sperm donation to give other couples the gift of becoming a family. Laura, an operations manager, said: “Mason is the most beautiful little guy. Even when he was a baby, he was such a happy child and was always smiling. He’s added so much to our lives and to the lives of our families – everyone wants to see him all the time."

Laura and Stacey McCabe with Mason - they are backing the appeal for more egg and sperm donors.

The Edinburgh Fertility Centre, at Edinburgh’s Royal Infirmary, has joined a national campaign to boost donor numbers as new figures reveal that one in six couples experience fertility problems in Scotland. More than 200 people currently need donated eggs or sperm to create their families.

The campaign is asking more kind-hearted people to become egg and sperm donors to give other people the chance of becoming parents.

Dr Karolina Skorupskaite-Carlyle, consultant in reproductive medicine and surgery at the Edinburgh Fertility Centre, said that more donors were key for them to be able to continue this vital work.

She said: “We work with people every day who desperately want to experience the joys of parenthood, but in some cases they cannot conceive using their own eggs or sperm, for a variety of different reasons. Donors have the ability to give them the chance of that happiness. Donating eggs or sperm is a very special altruistic act, which can change peoples’ lives.

“Donation treatment can be appropriate for both heterosexual and same sex couples. I have supported many couples who never thought they would be able to have children and it is a privilege to be a part of their journey.”Donors must be aged 18–35 and have a body mass index of less than 30 to donate their eggs or aged 18-45 to donate sperm. Donors must also be non-smokers, generally healthy and be able to provide a biological family history.

Laura said: “Becoming an egg or sperm donor is one of the most selfless things that you can do. You would be helping someone to have a family who can’t conceive otherwise and allowing them to create a new life as a family. We couldn’t imagine life without Mason now and we’re so grateful to the staff at the clinic for helping us on our journey to parenthood.”