| View Larger Image | Confessions of a Serial Egg Donor | Paperbackby Julia Derek (Author)
| List Price: | $15.95 | | | Available: | Usually ships in 24 hours |
| | Binding: | Paperback | | Publisher: | Adrenaline Books | | Page Count: | 240 Pages | | Publication Date: | August 01, 2004 | | Sales Rank: | 176,546th |
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EDITORIAL REVIEWS |
Product Description
Growing by nearly 20 percent annually, the business of egg donors is exploding in the United States. Demand for young women’s 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. |
CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.5 based on 23 reviews)
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Confessions of a Serial Egg Donor by Teri Turner (CA)  3 Stars
May 15, 2007
This book was not the most well written book but it did offer a different perspective on egg donation. This book should not be seen as an example of how most egg donors are, as her story is just one (extreme) example of what an egg donor is like. Most egg donors are compassionate women and not avaricious.
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Page-turner by Laura (New York, NY)  5 Stars
May 08, 2007
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.
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pleasantly suprised by Martha Mckittrick (NYC) 5 Stars
April 24, 2007
I was given copy of this book by a friend. I found the dark cover and title to be interesting, however I had no expectations.
Once I started reading it, I was pleasantly suprised. I found the content to be interesting, humorous and honest. I usually have a short attention span when it comes to finishing many books, however I found this one hard to put down. I finished it in 3 nights. I found myself looking forward to hearing what would happen next in Julia's egg donation journey.
I learned a lot about a subject I knew nothing about - despite working in the medical field.
I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking for an entertaining informative read. I have already started to pass it on to my friends.
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great book by Dana L. Stonestreet (San Francisco, CA) 5 Stars
September 04, 2006
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.
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a real person, not a robot by Lise Ellingsen (chicago) 5 Stars
January 15, 2006
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.
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