It has been a while since I blogged and this is a bit of a different topic for me, however I think it is still fitting under my "Making the Most of Every Opportunity" heading. I am about to tell you about a book I just finished reading entitled Soul Sale: A Rude Awakening by Americus Dotter. This is exactly what this author is doing is making of the most of every opportunity to tell people about her experience, heartache and consequences of becoming involved in ovum donation.
When I first read an interview that she participated in, I was immediately intrigued by the topic. It was something I had never really thought a lot about. This woman, however, will have the rest of her life to think about it and the thoughts are not pleasant.
Beginning this process with the purest of intentions, Amy Dotter had experienced the beautiful miracle of having a child of her own. When she realized how many people were not able to conceive, she wanted to give that gift to them. She was able to get connected with people that helped with the infertility procedures. She went into this process not even realizing that there would be a compensation fee given to her. Maybe her first red flag should have been the fact that the woman she was working with explained to her that it was compensation for pain and suffering.
"Young women are lured into the ovum donation experience with the promise of helping to create life; not to contribute to stem cell research," the author explains. Yes, you read it correctly. Amy was directed to go to different facilities to donate, including Yale University. She did get a red flag from that incident when she found out that, after an extremely painful procedure, they harvested 30 eggs from one session! She didn't know how they could possibly use that many eggs. She soon found out that many of her eggs had been used for stem cell research. That was not her heart, that was not her choice. She wanted to bring joy into the lives of childless couples and now she was faced with the questions of wondering at what point were the eggs used? Did they have a soul? Where did they go? And why was she not informed? Why was she not given a clear explanation and then a choice?
All of this torment was amplified by the long term effects of the injections she was required to take during the donation period. They had created a severe hormone imbalance causing her to slip into a psychosis that she battles to this day. In and out of facilities due to her episodes and when at home having the feeling that she could not be real for fear that her medication intake would be questioned and it may mean another trip to the hospital caused Amy to wear a mask constantly giving only answers that she knew would be accepted and not critiqued in any way.
One review stated that this book was disturbing and unsettling. Well, there's real life for you. There is no doubt about the spiritual battle this woman experienced in the facilities she was confined to. She was plagued with nightmares and horrid hallucinations. Through it all though she was able to find God, the One that has been able to make her situation tolerable and the One Who has given her the strength to tell her story and come against opposition regarding the "false hope" of embryonic stem cell research.
My heart broke for this woman over and over as I read her book. I was amazed at the fact that through all of this pain and suffering she was not tempted to sue anybody involved. Her heart at this point is only to make people aware of the things that go on behind the scenes. Some of these procedures did result in children being born, a couple of them being open donations so that she is able to watch these children grow. However, the many that were not properly handled are the ones that will forever haunt her. You can read her interview at this link: http://www.eggsploitation.com/story-adotter.htm and can find her book on Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/Soul-Sale-Awakening-Americus-Dotter-ebook/dp/B009191A32/
