The Egg Donation Decision: Helping Women Struggling with Infertility Become Mothers

Photo by Laercio Cavalcanti on Unsplash

Becoming an egg donor can be rewarding in many ways and to many people, but the decision is a deeply personal one - one that must intrinsically come from you. It’s also important to recognise that such a rewarding decision, which can potentially have a lasting impact on others, doesn’t come without its’ sacrifices or concerns. There are many factors to consider when making the decision to become a donor, but rest assured, there’s no right or wrong reason to donate eggs.

As an egg donor, you’ll have the opportunity to be a part of something bigger than yourself. You may find the ability to gift those struggling with infertility the opportunity to become parents far outweighs the physical and emotional task ahead. Remembering your motivation to donate your eggs can help see you through the entire egg donation process and give you permanent peace of mind you made the best decision for yourself.

Meeting the Requirements

To become an egg donor, you must not only be willing to commit physically and emotionally to it, but you also must be willing to commit your time. As a potential egg donor, you’ll be subject to a thorough screening process which involves medical tests, evaluations, and questionnaires. Your screening results will be used to determine if you meet the standard egg donor requirements listed below.

You must…

·       be between 21 to 33 years old.

·       currently be tobacco and drug-free.

·       not have any sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV, chlamydia, or hepatitis.

·       be in good overall mental, emotional, and physical health.

·       be prepared to have genetic screening.

·       have a psychological evaluation.

·       be available approximately 3 to 4 months to complete the donation process cycle.

·       be capable of self-administering injections with medication to stimulate your ovaries.

Consolidating Your Debt is a Great Way to Kick Off 2018

Young Family with Debt Problems image from Shutterstock

We'd all like to start the New Year with no debt, and no cash worries to speak of. Unfortunately, for most of us, that simply isn't a possibility. Though it would be nice to start the new year with no interest fees to worry about, if you can't pay off your debt just in time for Christmas, that doesn't mean that you can't start 2018 in a better financial situation than you were in the year before.

Debt consolidation could be the ultimate way to bring some structure into your payments, reducing the amount of interest you need to pay over time, and potentially keeping your stress levels to a minimum too.

Here, we're going to look at just some of the reasons why a debt consolidation loan could be a great way to start the New Year!

It Moves All your Loans into a Single Payment

Paying off debt can be a serious headache, particularly when you've got money owned to various lenders, in countless different places. A debt consolidation loan simply involves using a personal loan to pay off all the other accounts that you might have taken out with other providers. This means that you can instantly get rid of all the credit cards and overdrawn bank accounts that have been haunting you over the last few years. 

With a debt consolidation loan, instead of having to worry about multiple payment deadlines and other issues, you can simply make a single payment once a month towards your debt. This should allow you to focus entirely on that singular debt so that you can pay it off much faster. Instead of wondering which account you need to pay off first, you can also ensure that you're making a dent in all the money you owe each month too.

It Keeps Your Stress to a Minimum

Who doesn't want to live a happier, more stress-free life? Debt consolidation can help you to accomplish that goal because you no longer must worry about keeping track of multiple accounts at once. When you've got multiple debts in various places it can feel far more overwhelming than having a single owed balance - even when the amount you owe is the same either way.

Consolidating your debts can help you to feel as though you have more control over your finances, and it also cuts down on the number of frustrating letters you get through the door each month reminding you of how much you owe. 

You Could Benefit from a Lower Interest Rate
Perhaps the top benefit of debt consolidation is that it allows you to stop falling victim to the high-interest rates of credit cards and badly-chosen loans. Depending on your credit score, you might find that you can choose a personal loan with a much lower APR, bringing the amount you need to pay back to an absolute minimum. A lot of people don't realise that a maxed-out credit card can cost them a lot more in the long-run than a personal loan. You can use sites like Readies.co.uk to see specifically how different loan types compare with regards to annual interest rates.

At the same time, because personal loans can be quite flexible in the right circumstances, you might also be able to spread your payments out over a longer period too. This means that you don't have to spend as much of your monthly wages on paying off your debt. Although reducing the amount you pay each month will mean that you do stay in debt for longer, this can be an easier way for some people to manage their money, particularly when you're struggling with other expenses like rents, mortgages, or utility bills. 

You Might Improve Your Credit Score 
Finally, when you're constantly making late payments on your accounts because you can't keep track of all the money you owe, your credit score takes a serious beating. This means that even if you do end up paying back everything you owe, you might struggle to convince lenders that they should let you borrow from them in the future. A consolidated loan can make it easier for you to pay back the money you owe on time so that you can begin to build your credit.

Of course, the key to success with a consolidated loan in 2018 is making sure that you choose a structure that works for you. Ensure that you don't sign up for any loans that you can't afford to pay off on time, and make sure that you read all the fine print before you agree to any terms.

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4 Clever Ways to Help your Child Sleep Through the Night

As a parent, you crave one thing more than anything else: sleep. All you need is for your child to sleep soundly. Here are four clever ways to help your child sleep through the night.

Peaceful Sleeping Child image from Shutterstock

Turn down the Temperature 
Did you know that you sleep better at colder temperatures? Research suggests that even insomniacs can sleep soundly when they wear cooling caps. It makes sense in that people are more likely to wake up and feel restless when they’re hot.

When your child is sweaty, they’ll wake up and cry. Who has to tend to them? Yes, it’s you. To avoid such problems, turn down your thermostat each night before bedtime. Your children will sleep more comfortably and they’re less likely to awaken in the night. You should even consider purchasing a smart thermostat, which will automatically lower the temperature at a scheduled time each evening.

5 Hidden Asthma Triggers Hiding in Your Home

If your child suffers from asthma, you do your best to keep your home free from triggers that cause attacks. But, hiding in your home are other causes that make your children's asthma attacks more frequent. Here are some things you might not think about.

 Animal Saliva

Thanks to Shutterstock for the Happy child with dog image

When we think of allergies from pets, most people think about dander, the tiny flakes of dead skin all living creatures shed. But, a pet's saliva and urine also contribute to asthma attacks. When your pet greets your child with a lick, even that small exposure to the animal's saliva is dangerous. Or, cleaning up after a new puppy's accident could also cause an asthma attack. So, think twice before choosing a pet for your child.

Three Ways to Reclaim Space in Your Home (Permanently)

Fashionable Living Room Image courtesy of Shutterstock

Wouldn’t it be great if there was a sure-fire method of making sure the house was always tidy and there was plenty of space for everything? Sadly, there aren’t any sure-fire methods, but there are a few tricks that can vastly help busy people reclaim more space, and make it stick. Here are three of them:

#1 - Don’t Keep Things at Home that You Don’t Use

This doesn’t mean throwing everything away as soon as it falls out of use, because we all have stuff we want to hang onto but that we don’t use every day - or even every year.

Instead of getting rid of possessions, an inexpensive way to keep hold of them without having them take up space at home is to put them into self storage. It doesn’t matter whether you have a vast collection of items, or just a few precious objects, as self storage facilities have a good range of room sizes, even lockers.

The terms are short (you can rent a room from a week upwards), the security is high, and the locations are convenient for most town dwellers. Parking is good, even for large vehicles or lorries, and there are trolleys to help move bulky or heavy items.

One excellent idea is to use self storage on a seasonal basis so you’re not, for instance, tripping over lawn mowers and garden furniture through the winter, or fighting for closet space for summer clothes because all the room is taken up with winter boots and coats. Twice a year, you swap things round and only keep at home those items you know you want for the next few months. But because locations are handy, it’s a quick job to pop back if you want to retrieve anything.

A Procrastinating Parent’s Guide To Wills

With kids around you have to prioritise your procrastination. Some things you can safely put off, indulging in the luxury of ‘tomorrow’. Others - really anything that’s kid related - you know you just need to get on with.

In the clamour of the needs of ‘now’, putting into place solutions for something that might happen in the far distant future is a prime candidate for the ‘tomorrow’ pile.

Pink for a Girl and Blue for a Boy – How do we challenge the rules?

Pretty in pink or just stereotyped?

By Lisa Bradburn

It seems impossible to get away from the fact that most girls love pink and boys blue, but has society influenced them or is it innate? And as the director of a toy company, how do I navigate these muddy waters?

There has been much research into gender stereotyping in children. The media covers the topic frequently, taking the debate to the level of the national economy and campaigns such as Let Toys Be Toys and Goldie Blox encourage girls to play with traditionally boys toys and vice versa.

Children Need Support in the Wake of Natural Disasters

Our two sponsored children

When a natural disaster hits a community it is devastating for everyone involved, but especially for the children. When a wildfire, earthquake, storm or violent flood hits a community, children are very vulnerable and can be significantly impacted. Their families might need to relocate, they may have lost vital loved ones and the adults that they usually rely on to support them will be also struggling themselves.

 How can we support children during these difficult times? During times of tragedy, children need stability and comfort and they also need older role models who can guide them on how to manage the emotions that they are feeling. When they have the support of caring adults, children will eventually be able to return to school and their normal routines. They will be able to understand their reactions to the trauma and move on from the experience. 

Strong Reactions are Normal 
Following a highly traumatic event such as a natural disaster, it is completely normal for teenagers and children (as well as adults) to have strong reactions and changes in behaviour. Feelings of confusion, insomnia, depression, anger, social withdrawal, panic and fear are common and very natural. It is important that these reactions are not ignored, but rather treated in the appropriate way so that they can be dealt with.

After a traumatic event, a child will likely be worried that their surroundings are no longer safe or that danger could strike at any minute. They might have reoccurring nightmares about the trauma or fears that they or their family are in danger. Children in this situation are often tense, nervous, on-edge and might have difficulty paying attention or concentrating. They will become overly dependent on others and clingy, or sometimes even distressed and fearful if they are separated from loved ones. These are all natural responses to the trauma that the child has witnessed and in order to move on from this distressed psychological state, we need to give children the support they need.

How Can We Help Children in This Situation? 
What does a child need to recover from this type of emotional trauma? First of all, they need adults in their life who are calm and reassuring and will provide them with support. They need their feelings to be listened to and discussed, rather than hidden.

Also, a great way to support children in this situation is to offer them positive coping and problem solving skills. This will help them to develop their own ways of dealing with the situation, so that they can manage their anxiety. It can also be very helpful for children dealing with trauma to have strong emotional support from their peers and friendship groups. Time spent with friends is important and should be encouraged.

These are just a few of the important ways that we can help children recover from natural disasters. To find out more about Plan UK and how the charity helps children in need, visit their child sponsorship page here http://www.plan-uk.org/sponsor-a-child/

This is a guest post which I was happy to accept without charge as my family sponsor two children, one in Haiti and one in India, so I know first-hand the value that child sponsorship has.

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