# Egg sharing IVF programme



## jenna201 (Aug 28, 2010)

Hi there,

I am probably posting in the wrong place but i am just after some advice. I am looking into doing an egg sharing ivf programme as it is a lot cheaper and i was wondering if any of you ladies have done this and how long did it take from start to finish? was there any stipulations? how much did it cost you in total? etc.
If anyone could shed a bit of light on this i would really appreciate it as i have been told by my consultant yesterday there is nothing more he can do for me and i need IVF but it is not funded on the nhs here in essex 

thanks in advance 

jenna


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## muchlovetogive (May 19, 2011)

Hi Jenna 

I am 25 and in the process at the momment off doing a egg sharing Ivf cycle we are at oxford clinic and in total ours is costing £1100 so is a lot cheaper doing the egg sharing, although its not a easy decision too make we had to have a couple off conselling sessions and everyone is different we as a couple had a open view off egg sharing as we are using donor sperm so we were very open minded about everything. In whole its quite a quick process from start to finish as I was matched up to someone the same day I went in to sign forms to agree to being a egg donor etc. How are you feeling xx


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## munchkin35 (Jan 21, 2011)

Hi,
  I am also egg sharing, this is our second go at IVF, and like you couldn't afford to do another go just yet - so decided to egg share not just because of the money, we really wanted to help someone else also. Some clinics offer it for nothing, we had to pay a non refundable HFEA fee of around £105 (i think), and a refundable £600, + the odd blood test. So yes a lot cheaper!!

I had to wait around 3 months I think, had to wait a bit longer as had some genetic queries we need to clear up first. I had my scan today and have got lots of lovely follicles so far, so good news for me and the recipient!  

I would ring around your local clinics and get them to send u info on it, so you can have a good read and think it all through, as it isn't an easy decision to make. Also I didn't notice your age, I am only just able to do it as the cut off is 36, some it is 35.
Whatever you do, good luck     
(pm me if u have any other questions)


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## jenna201 (Aug 28, 2010)

Thank you ladies for your replies,

muchlovetogive, i am sure i spoke to you the other day on the chat room? i am also 25. myself and my partner are also pretty open minded, there was a point in our journey that i was falsely told my eggs were no good and that i would have to use donor eggs but luckily it turned out i didnt but we talked at length about it and was happy to go ahead so i would love to help someone out who is unfortunate to be able to use their own eggs, i am happy to do counselling sessions and what ever tests they would like me to do.Just wasnt sure if i needed to pay a consultation fee for every visit to clinics before i make up my mind on which one to use? i want to know i am in safe hands and to be honest as long as the wait wasnt a year or two i would be happy to go down that route.
I am feeling excited and scared at the same time, i want to get going so that i can focus on something and feel like i am actually doing something rather than wasting more precious time if u know what i mean, i am also scared if i was to not produce any eggs at all or just one? what would happen then? i am guessing the donor would get it? lots and lots of worries and questions.

Munchkin, thank you for the advice, will def ring around some clinics and find out about their "free IVF" as they call it, i know i am partly doing it for selfish reasons, like it will be cheaper so could afford more goes at it but i do also want to help someone less fortunate than me and i know only too well the pain of not having that much wanted baby and i know i could potentially make someone really happy and turn them into a family  
I know there will be charges but thats fine, it will be worth every penny if i succeed.


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## muchlovetogive (May 19, 2011)

Hi Jenna my clinic works that on day off EC I have to have more then 5 eggs to be a egg sharer, if on the day I only get 4 or 5 or even less we don't get charge any more and you would use all the eggs  and they would contact the other person and explain I know some one using egg donors arew explained sometimes that can happen etc. If you Produce 9eggs you would use 5 and the other ladcy would get 4. That is how my clinic works i'm not sure if every clinic is different though.

Yes I know time is such a precious time in IVF. Hope you find a clinic u are happy with xx


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## jenna201 (Aug 28, 2010)

thanks hun. contacted a clinic in london where i had tests done last year and they sent me the litrature, i have a consultation on monday to get the ball rolling  really excited, appointment was gonna be end of july but someone cancelled whilst i was on the phone, wahoo lol xx


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## muchlovetogive (May 19, 2011)

aw really pleased hun was obviously meant to be


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## Vega (Jun 12, 2011)

Hey!

I'm 27 and have unexplained infertility, am going private so decided to look at egg share scheme. 

I'm at the start of the process so can't tell you exactly how long it all takes, but can give you a rough idea. At my clinic you have to have a consultation (to discuss your medical history and give you an overview of the process), a counselling session (to discuss the egg share), an ultrasound scan (to check you're physically ok and do an antral follicle count) and some blood tests before you can be accepted onto the process. 

My DH also had to give a sperm sample (to see if we needed ICSI, has no bearing on donating) and blood tests for Hep B/C & HIV (some clinics can't treat a couple with these conditions).

We did these all on same day and are now awaiting results of blood tests.

The blood tests look for three things 
1) Communicable diseases - HIV/Hep C&B/Chlamydia/Gonnorehea/Syphyllis. Need to be clear to be accepted.
2) Genetic screening - a karyotype test which looks for genetic issues and a cystic fibrosis test. Need to be clear to be accepted.
3) AMH levels - this hormone is prodcued by antral follicles ('resting' follicles ie follicles which are visible but not yet mature, these are likely to mature under treatment and thus give an indication of how many eggs you'll produce). It gives an idea of your ovarian reserve and how well you will respond to treatment. High is good low is bad. It is used in conjunction with antral follicle count from ultrasound, in which they can count the follies. To egg share at most places you need at least 8 eggs (4 for you 4 for recipient). So if your antral follicle count shows only 4 resting follicles and you have very low AMH you might not respond well to treatment.

All these need to be ok before you start treatment. The cystic fibrosis and karyotype usually take about 4/6 weeks to come back, I've been told this is because they need to be sent off for testing and then matured in a culture.

Once bloods are back you will be matched with a recipient. This is based on physical charecteristics only ie hair colour, eye colour, skin tone, height. Given there's a big waiting list this shouldn't take too long!

The time scale then depends on the protocol ie treatment method. You'll probably be on the long protocol with egg share ie down regged (dr) to match you and your recipient cycle as you both need to be ready for embryo transfer on same day! Dr starts on day 1 or day 21 of your cycle and carries on for ~3 weeks until you're cycles converge. You'll then start taking stimulating drugs to get your resting follicles to mature all at once and hopefully produce lots of mature eggs! This takes about 12 days on average then they collect the eggs.

Embryo trf is either 3 or 5 days after egg collection and then the 2 week wait to see if pregnant!

So totting it all up on a normal cycle.

- 4 to 6 weeks for blood tests and match
- 1 to 3 weeks till day 1 or day 21 of cycle
- 2 to 4 weeks down reg
- 2 weeks stimms
- 2 week wait

So if all goes well can be around 3 or 4 months from blood tests to test day!

Bit long winded but hope that helps! xx


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## LV. (Jul 18, 2008)

Just moving you to the egg share section ladies


LV xx


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## jenna201 (Aug 28, 2010)

hi ladies,

thank you so much for your replies but as if by magic i got my bfp yesterday   

i still went to my appointment as have history of m/c but doc seemed confident i would have no problems being accepted. i would just need some tests done first but should be aware that some couples may not choose me as their donor due to history of m/c.

i am hoping this is my sticky bean and i wont need to go down this route just yet xx


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