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Sometimes traumas occur that aren\u2019t discussed or supported in the ways they should be. It takes some brave soul to forge the path in changing the narrative for those who follow. Today\u2019s show is an important conversation of a personal story of egg donation, what can go wrong, and the emotional trauma that might follow.\xa0\nMeghan Coltrane is a Licensed Professional Counselor in perinatal mood and anxiety disorder. Her private practice is in Asheville, NC. She\u2019s here to share her personal experience of being an egg donor, which led her into the field of perinatal emotional health. I\u2019m putting a sensitivity notice on this episode for anyone who has experienced obstetrical complications or trauma related to a procedure. This kind of complication is very rare, but it CAN happen, so we want to bring awareness to it and learn, understand, and support people through all aspects of their reproductive and mental health.\nShow Highlights:\n\nMeghan\u2019s rare complications are an uncommon experience in egg donation\n\nWhen she was 25, she applied to be an egg donor and went through the required testing\n\nWithin days of being approved, two different couples had chosen her as their egg donor and she prepared for her next cycle with the necessary medications and many ultrasounds\n\nWho needs an egg donor? Any couple seeking to do IVF without their own viable eggs\n\n20 eggs were retrieved during the procedure and her mother drove her home to rest, with her plan being to return to work the next day\n\nShe tried to sleep, then woke up, and fainted on her way to the bathroom\n\nThe on-call nurse told her to drink more water\n\nShe went back to sleep, but kept waking up with increasing abdominal pain; it became sharp, like nothing she\u2019d ever felt before\n\nThe on-call nurse prescribed Tylenol with codeine\n\nLater, her roommate took her to the ER, where she was given IV fluids and was admitted for 3 days\n\nThe diagnosis was ovarian torsion, in which the ovaries were twisting on themselves and severe bleeding was occurring\n\nThroughout her hospital stay, her caregivers were always on guard for the need for emergency surgery, which would have meant the removal of her ovaries\n\nAfter her discharge, she visited 6 different doctors and began having anxiety, terrors, and emotional issues\n\nHer physical recovery took 1-2 weeks, but the emotional healing took much longer\n\nMeghan was anxious, terrified, scared, and filled with irrational fears and repeated nightmares\n\nHer body responded as though she had been through a sexual assault, with her even being terrified of every man she came into contact with\n\nWhy she hunkered down and shut everyone out of her life\n\nShe had no energy, was exhausted, and lost a lot of weight\n\nShe saw her therapist and went to Yoga for Trauma classes\n\nShe saw a psychiatrist for medication to help her eat and sleep\n\nDuring the first year, she threw herself into self-healing and did TRE (trauma releasing exercises) and EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) with her primary therapist\n\nThe fertility clinic kept calling, asking her to donate again, even though she had told them she was done\n\nWhy she felt treated \u201clike a machine that gave them their product\u201d\n\nThere was no discussion about the hormonal effects or the possible mental effects of the process or the risks\n\nMeghan\u2019s desire is not to discourage egg donation, but to encourage trauma-informed care\n\nHow Meghan has started doing trauma-informed care training\n\nHow she wouldn\u2019t do it again, but gained a lot of insight in how to care for herself and set boundaries\n\nThe financial benefits of egg donation, taxes, and why it\u2019s not worth it\n\nHer official diagnosis: anxiety, depression, and PTSD\n\nWhat Meghan wants others to know about this process and the impact on perinatal mental health\n\nMeghan\u2019s advice: \u201cBe open to healing and surround yourself with those who respect your boundaries.\u201d\n\n\xa0\nResources:\nwww.meghancoltrane.com\nwww.weareeggdonors.com