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$75.000 for your Eggs

There’s literally no way for me to avoid the awkward nature of this topic, so I’m just going to dive right in.

I once was offered $75,000 for my eggs.

As in…my lady eggs.

I know you may be thinking, ”No way, she’s lying!”, but my husband, family, and close friends can attest to the fact that this did, in fact, happen.

The story is pretty interesting, so if I haven’t totally offended you by talking about my –erm –eggs, then stick around!

Before I dive into the details, let me set the stage a bit. Back in 2013, I wasn’t known as a Contributor for The Tall Society. I didn’t have my business, I wasn’t known for any sort of personal development, and I sure as HECK wasn’t any sort of somebody in the online world.

But I WAS known for being an athlete.

I was a senior in college and had just wrapped up my college volleyball career. While the end of a career is a bit of a crazy time, my then boyfriend (now husband) proposed! So in addition to wrapping up my playing career, I was planning a wedding, searching for a job, and generally trying to figure out what the HECK I wanted to do with my life when…

“Dear Christiana,
This may be the strangest email you’ve ever received…”

You see where I’m going with this. I remember sitting at the table in my college apartment and wondering if my jaw was literally going to hit the floor. I read, re-read, and re-re-read the email just to be sure I was seeing things right.

Spark Notes version of the letter went something like this:
Egg donation agency out in California had a “high profile couple” who didn’t approve of any of the donor matches in the databank
Said “high profile couple” wanted height, athleticism, brains, and a particular look from their donor
Egg donation agency (it was legitimate, I looked it up) was forced to go outside of their egg bank and start looking at the ONLY easy-to-find source of tall, athletic, smart women…college athletic teams. Specifically college athletic teams for “elite academic schools”
“High profile couple” helped narrow down their options and ultimately selected me as an acceptable candidate
“High profile couple” offered me $75,000 plus medical expenses for my eggs as long as they would remain anonymous

I was floored and, truthfully, a bit interested! With wedding expenses to worry about, no job (yet) upon graduation, and the thought that I wouldn’t have to live off of macaroni and cheese hanging over my head, I found myself imagining what that money could do for my life.

“No.”

Interrupting my fantasy was the stern voice of my then-fiancé-now-husband.

“Absolutely not. You don’t know these people, and that’s your baby. Maybe we can talk about it down the road for a nice couple we know, but we just don’t know their intentions and no amount of money is worth that. Plus, I can’t imagine there being another cute, awkward little you running around in the world and not knowing him or her!”

He was right. I didn’t know the family, had never had a baby myself, and that’s a lot of pressure for a 23 year-old to deal with!

So I made a decision that day that actually was pretty darn easy to do and walked away from $75,000.

And juuust in case the family decided to find another “smart, tall, athletic donor”, I want to go on the record and say that I haven’t been offered again since! So in 20 years if there is a 7’4” basketball star on ESPN talking about how he doesn’t know his donor mom, it definitely wasn’t me.

Until next time!
Christiana

Tall Sister, Lets Be Friends!