# How much sperm did you order?



## suitcase of dreams (Oct 7, 2007)

To the girls who have ordered from ESB - how much did you order?

I assume it's one vial per tx - did you order several as back up, or just the one you needed? Have narrowed it down to 5 or 6 donors and trying to make final decision - quite a few of them seem to have limited sample available so wondering if I should order at least 3? Even if I end up going down the donor egg route, I'll still need sperm for that....

What did you do?

Thanks!
Suitcase
x


----------



## some1 (May 13, 2006)

Hello Suitcase

Although, I didn't order sperm from ESB, I did buy my samples in 'bulk' to give me enough for 7 treatments (6 IUI 1 IVF).  I ordered this much because my clinic had very limited supplies.  As ESB has several donors that you can choose from, you probably wouldn't want to order that much.  However, I would think that ordering just 1 vial could be a bit stressful, as there is always the possibility that a sample won't defrost well, potentially leaving you in a nightmare situation.  I think maybe ordering 2-3 samples could be the way to go.  Hope this is helpful  

Some1

xx


----------



## Betty-Boo (Oct 14, 2007)

Hi Suity - I ordered 3 vials - thats what I was advised to order from my previous clinic.
You may end up with some FETs too.
Hope that helps
mini x


----------



## indekiwi (Dec 23, 2008)

Hi Suitcase,

Just picking up on your point that a few of the donors you are considering have limited samples available....in the wonderful event that you get a BFP this time around   and given your post of a few days back regarding perhaps having more than one child, you may want to give a little thought to using a donor where more samples are held so that you are able to access the same donor for bubba no. 2.  I know I'm getting ahead of myself here - or at least am suggesting you might want to get ahead of yourself....however, it is a way of covering a number of eventualities should you wish to.    

Am quite envious of the number of donor profiles you've had to pick through by the way - every time I went to do this I was given the choice of two or three with incredibly limited information provided.  Felt a bit like chucking a coin in the air and seeing which way it landed.  Best of luck for January - I think I will be on the TWW with you if things go according to plan....

A-Mx


----------



## winky77 (Nov 27, 2007)

Hi Suitcase....

i ordered 3 vials....same as Mini.....but already feel a bit wobbly that there's only 2 vials left!  3 was all that was available from my donor tho so just went with that !  Getting close now!!! 

lol

Winky


----------



## suitcase of dreams (Oct 7, 2007)

Thanks everyone, 3 seems like a good number to start with and I'll go from there. My short list is still 6 or 7 and I'd be pretty much OK with any of them, so if the samples run out, I can go with one of the others

The sibling issue is a big one - but I guess if I'm lucky enough to get a BFP which sticks this time, I'll talk to ESB about storing extra there for a few years - only €100 per year so shouldn't be a problem 

Just got to narrow it down to final choice and get it sent to Reprofit now - although they don't re-open until the 12th Jan so no rush...

Suitcase
x


----------



## Felix42 (Oct 14, 2007)

I went for 4 Suity. I was pretty sure I wanted to stick with Reprofit & they store it for free. 3 sounds a good number tho. Good luck with chosing!
Love & hugs Felix xxx


----------



## bingbong (Dec 9, 2008)

Suity,

Just wondering how you are getting on with choosing the sperm? Must be sooooooooooo hard, I don't envy you but then of course I hope to be in that position soon!!

BB xx


----------



## suitcase of dreams (Oct 7, 2007)

Keep putting it off BB....but really must make a decision soon. Down to shortlist of about 5 or 6 different donors. Takes 5 days to ship and I need it there by about 20th Jan, so still lots of time but back at work Monday and time willl move fast after that. Will try to review the donors again this weekend and just choose one...after all, not like I'm going to have  a relationship with them or anything, should just pick one and be done with it really!

Suitcase
x


----------



## bingbong (Dec 9, 2008)

Sounds easier said than done to me!!! I have no idea what criteria I would use, and the more info you get on the donor I am sure the harder it would be to choose. In the end I expect that I would use some silly way of choosing from the 5 or 6 that I was down to.

Good luck!!! Sending you positive choosing vibes  

BB x


----------



## Betty-Boo (Oct 14, 2007)

I didn't have much choice in the end - went for height weight eye / hair colour then got down to nitty gritty of blood group cmv status etc etc..  It was the cmv status that made the choice for me in the end!

Good luck though x


----------



## suitcase of dreams (Oct 7, 2007)

My only real criteria are hair and eye colour - I want fair hair and blue eyes as that's likely to result in a child with my/my family's colouring. Even that is a bit strange though, since in real life I could just as easily end up with a dark haired/brown eyed partner....but there you go, I guess I wanted the child to feel that they 'fitted' in the family and since we are all without exception fair/red headed with blue eyes, that seemed to make sense. 

Height always good - especially as I am only average height, so good to try to compensate a bit for that. Although both my parents and one of my sisters are taller than average, so again, doesn't make too much difference as they might get the tall family gene which I didn't get.

Beyond that I really don't have too much preference, but now that I have all this information I find myself wondering whether to go for the sporty, mathemetics type (makes up for my lack of sporting prowess etc) or for the more arty one (more like me) etc etc

At the end of the day, any of the 5 or 6 I've shortlisted will be fine so if I can't decide I shall put all of the names in a hat (or probably a pot as I don't really have a hat  ) and pick one out at random....

Mini - not even sure if CMV status is on the info I've got, but LWC told me it didn't matter anyway so I have ignored it thus far in my considerations...

Suitcase
x


----------



## ♥JJ1♥ (Feb 11, 2006)

have you girls seen the eye colour predictor
http://www.athro.com/evo/inherit.html

/links


----------



## Betty-Boo (Oct 14, 2007)

Suity - I did ask for the cmv status as I'm -ve so wanted a -ve donor - just me being picky...
Good luck - names out of the hat sounds a good idea!!


----------



## suitcase of dreams (Oct 7, 2007)

Hi JJ, 

I've seen a similar one I think....pretty sure if you have blue eyes, your parents have blue eyes and your partner (donor in my case) has blue eyes, then you can only end up with a blue eyed child

Having said that, it's funny how much thought we put into all this, when we wouldn't even think about it if conceiving naturally with a partner and at the end of the day, just having a child will be more than enough for me - I don't really care what colour eyes they end up with   

Suitcase
x

PS Mini - if negative is the rarer one, then I'm negative too - I'm whichever one there are limited numbers of....always get it the wrong way round....but since LWC didn't seem worried about it, I've decided not to be worried about it either


----------



## bingbong (Dec 9, 2008)

Suity,

You sound like you have the same sort of things that I would want, blonde/blue eye and taller than me. I would also like someone who is fairly slim to try and make up for my genes    Totally agree with looking for something that will fit with the family look, although as you say that doesn't always work.

I have a friend who used donor sperm who was meant to look like her dark haired/eyed partner, and the child is as blonde as you could get with blue eyes. 

As for the interests I am not sure that it makes that much difference as we often don't get stuff like that from our parents genes, I think it is more nurture than nature. Except brains, I do think that gets passed on.

And yes, if both you and the donor have blue eyes and so do parent's and grandparent's then it is likely that the baby will too, but you can have blue eyes and still have the brown eyed trait in there even if you have blue eyes, and so can spring up and brown eyed baby. Its not that complicated but I would need to draw something to show what I mean and I can't do that! 

Good luck, and if you need it I have a lovely hat that you could use  

BB x


----------



## Lou-Ann (Apr 20, 2008)

Suity, good luck choosing your donor - the hat sounds like a good idea if you really can't decide on one  . 
I haven't got as far as physically choosing a donor yet, but there seem to be a few of us with a similar criteria list as far as blonde/fair hair and blue eyes  

Good luck!

Lou-Ann x


----------



## suitcase of dreams (Oct 7, 2007)

Ok, sperm ordered!

Decided I couldn't keep faffing around with it, not least because I know if/when I get pregnant I won't really care too much about the specifics of the donor...

Credit card is going to be taking a big hit this month! Hope they don't ring me up like last time - I paid for the access to the ESB donor information list and First Direct called to ask if it was a genuine transaction. To his credit the guy on the phone didn't stumble over the words 'and the transaction to European Sperm Bank - is that genuine?'  

I suppose they've seen/heard it all before!

Suitcase
x


----------



## bingbong (Dec 9, 2008)

Suity I haven't laughed so much in ages    That poor guy, he must have been so embarrassed!!! That is too funny though. Hopefully this time they will have your previous transaction and not call you.  

But well done on choosing!!!!!!!!!   Thats a really big deal in my eyes, can't imagine how hard it would be to choose from all that info they give you, but as you said the specifics won't matter so much when it comes down to it. Great news! 

Thanks again for the giggle, I really needed that  

BB x


----------



## lulumead (May 29, 2008)

glad you made a choice and moving ahead, not long now..sending positive vibes
xx


----------



## Betty-Boo (Oct 14, 2007)

Great news suity... a step closer - am still waiting to hear from Plymouth that mine has been sent to Denmark - have funny feeling its still here.... Hope this doesn't delay things...
mini x


----------



## Lou-Ann (Apr 20, 2008)

Suity, great that you have decided on your donor  
Good luck!

Lou-Ann x


----------

