# Sticky  Egg Sharing - The process



## Bubbles12

Hi All,

I wanted to put together some general information about egg sharing.

This is for people thinking of egg- sharing or just wanting to refresh on what's required etc.

The basics:

Egg Share - this helps two couples, those requiring donated eggs and those needing IVF who are willing to be egg donors. 
In egg share a woman donates half of her eggs to another woman and receives her treatment at a reduced cost. 
Not all women are suitable to be egg share, The criteria seems to differ from clinic to clinic but the general rule is that you have to be under 35, and have a good egg reserve, one of the 1st blood test your clinic will do is a FSH (follicle stimulating hormone )

Day 3 FSH level 
Less than 10 = *Reassuring level.* Expect a good response to ovarian stimulation. 
9 - 10 = *Fair * Response is between completely normal and somewhat reduced (response varies widely). 
10 - 12 = *Reduced ovarian reserve*. Usually show a reduced response to stimulation and some reduction in egg and embryo quality with IVF. Reduced live birth rates on the average.

12 - 17 Generally show a more marked reduction in response to stimulation and usually a further reduction in egg and embryo quality with IVF. Low live birth rates.

Most clinic would like you to have a FSH of 9 or below.

Another way of checking a potential donors egg reserve is an AMH (Anti-Müllerian Hormone) test which is done by a simple blood test.

*Optimal Fertility *- 28.6 - 48.5
*Satisfactory Fertility* - 15.7 - 28.6
*Low Fertility* - 2.2 - 15.7
*Very Low / Undetectable* - 0.0 - 2.2 
*Higher Levels, that can be associated with PCOS* - 48.5

Anything over 48.5 will make you high risk for OHSS

Potential donors with known or suspected poor ovarian response or poor egg quality are excluded.

All being well you will then move on to the next stage all the blood test. 
You and your Partner will both have to be tested for HIV, Hep B & Hep C, this is usually done at your consultation. You can some times ask your doctor if they will do these test & take the results with you, this will help reduce the cost further, but you may be asked to pay a nhs fee for the tests.

Here are a list of the bloods that clinics require before going ahead (let me know if any missed)

AMH
Test / Blood required: VDRL (syphilis) 
Blood Group & save
Cystic Fibrosis Screen 
Cytomegalovirus 
Chromosome studies (blood) 
Full blood count 
FSH 
High swab ( bit like a smear) 
Chlamydia test ( this can be done with urine )

These test can take anything up to 6 weeks to come back. The wait can be hard but we are all here to help you along.

At some point of the process you will be asked to undergo independent counselling this is a requirement for all couples wishing to egg share.

This involves talking about how you would feel if a potential child born from your donation was to contact you when they turned 18.

Once all the tests & blood test have come back then you clinic can start to match you with a recipient.

The clinic will attempt to match you with a recipient as closely as possible. They will try and match physical characteristics, skin tone, height, hair colour etc. 
The recipient will not be given any specific identifying information about the sharer & visa versa.

Once the match is made the clinic will call and advise you of potential dates. They may also give you medication to sync your cycle to your recipients.
Then you start a normal IVF cycle. 

To egg share, ideally you need to produce a minimum of eight eggs, some clinics are 6.

In the case where not enough eggs are produced and depending on the Clinics process, the sharer has the option of using all of the eggs for herself, some clinics will charge then charge you for the cost of the treatment but most do not (This will all be made aware to you in your consultation) Or to donate them all and have a reduce cost cycle next time without sharing.

When an uneven number of eggs are collected the sharer will receive the extra egg at most clinics but if you would like to give it to the recipient you can request this.

The eggs that are retrieved are then spilt randomly and fertilized.

Then you have to wait for a call to see how many fertilised and when you embryos will be transferred. 
Then comes the longest wait of all, the 2week wait to see if you have been successful.

Some clinics will offer to let you know the outcome of you recipient if you wished to know, if this information is not offered/available by your clinic and you would like to know you can write to the HFEA.

I hope this has helped.

Hope xxx

The opinions expressed on this thread are personal opinions and not the opinions of fertilityfriends.co.uk.


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