# young donors with proven fertility



## langue (Mar 12, 2007)

Hi,

I am researching options for donor egg IVF and was wondering which clinics have on their list donors in their 20s with proven fertility (i.e. children). So far I am pretty sure that AltraVita in Moscow chooses their donors based on this criteria but I am not sure about others. When I mentioned donor egg treatment to my consultant he said that donor eggs make sense only if the donor is quite young otherwise it will be the same issues as with my own eggs.

Would really appreciate your suggestions,

langue


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## anjela (Aug 25, 2006)

hi
yes when i researched Altra vita they have only proven donors.

In the end i chose to go to Cz and my donor was 25 but not proven but i went ahead as they said 70% of their donors were unproven....was just glad i had a donor, and as you can see i am now pregnant.


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## daisyg (Jan 7, 2004)

Don't forget that proven usually means donors whose eggs have achieved a live birth with other recipients - this is the more common definition of proven donor as many donors are simply too young to have had children themselves.  Choosing those that have their own children will narrow your choice significantly.  Therefore you are better off asking for the more widely accepted definition of proven.  

This definition will apply to most clinics in Europe who will have young, proven donors.  

Best of luck,

Daisy
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## langue (Mar 12, 2007)

Thanks, Daisy and Angela. I know that in Eastern Europe the age at which a woman has her first baby is significantly lower than here so I assumed that there will be donors in their 20s with children. I've found the info on Isida and Altravita websites that they both use these criteria to choose their donors. I am not sure if clinics allow you to specify what kind of donor you want. 

It will probably reduce the number of clinics where we would go for a treatment but then I think about my own experience. There is no history of infertility in my family, my tests were always perfect and I was told until a month ago (when my FSH shot through the roof) that  I am young and the very minimal endometriosis I have can't possibly affect my chances. Yet we've been trying for 3 years with no success. I believe that whatever prevents me from getting pregnant now was present then so being in your 20s is no guarantee of egg quality.


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## Bewley (Oct 14, 2007)

Hi Langue,

We are using Isida for donor egg and donor sperm and by Ukranian law all egg donors must have a child(ren) to donate and the clinic only use egg donors under 28 years. You can specify a donor who has already donated before so you know she has had a successful IVF. We have thought about this one and thing is how a donor was on say a first cycle of IVF isn't necessarily how they will respond a second time so may give reassurance but won't determine the response. Versus this there is evidence to show that there is more success on first cycle of IVF so having someone new who has never donated before can be seen as a bonus. You can choose but this will limit your choice obviously if want someone who has donated before. For me the fact they must already have had a healthy child is a huge bonus as lot of countries you won't have this. You do get to choose physical characteristics on the donor profile and will match you by photos of yourself and the donor and by blood group and rhesus factor if this is what you want.

Hope this has helped. Good luck
Bewley


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## podbean (Jan 16, 2008)

Hi Langue

I just wanted to say -  I can't offer anything over what Bewley and Daisy have said.  

I just want to let you know that I am also going through a selection process for a clinic for DE at the moment.  

I am leaning toward Isida and Altra Vita at the moment but have just received some info from Invimed and Ceram - so will review that and choose early next week. 

We are wait listed at Reprofit for Sept 08 but we plan to do a cycle with another clinic before then.  

I'd be interested to know which clinic you finally choose.  I have reviewed clinics (not all, just the main ones mentioned on FF) in Ukraine, Moscow, Spain, Poland, Czech, if you want to compare notes or have difficulty getting responses from any of them.  

Podbean
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## langue (Mar 12, 2007)

Bewley - thanks a lot for sharing your experience with ISIDA. I had a look at their website and though they don't have a list of donors like Altravita it looks like they do use donors with children. I haven't received a response from them yet so have doubts about admin side of things if we are to choose them. As to how many successful IVF cycles the whole treatment is such a lottery that I will just stay with my "in their 20s" and "have a child" preferences. Good luck with the treatment 

Podbean - would be great if you could share your review results. I've just started and was looking for something like clinics profiles on FF with information about their donors, egg share, balsts transfer etc. I did find very interesting bits (that for example all egg donations in poland are egg share which rules them out for me) but nothing detailed. A consultant at Repromeda advised that they have 2 programmes: standard where you use their existing donors and the one where you specify characteristics and they look for a match, the difference is 5000 euros.   So I assume it can be done, the question as usual is the money.  Good luck with choosing clinic,


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## podbean (Jan 16, 2008)

Hi Langue

Don't give up on Isida - Larisa answered me very quickly on both occasions.  (One of the first actually along with Dr Stepan.  

I had a similar issue with Invimed but since getting Dr Rokiki's email directly I've had an answer - not from him as he's on vacation.  Could be a case of "whilst the cat is away, the mice will play".  [email protected] is the email I used to communicate with Isida - have you tried that?

My plan is to compare all clinics on a list of approx 20 variables.  To be honest it sounds like you, Bewley, Angela and Daisy (and others on here) know a lot more about this than I do.  My main concern is: Waiting list, cost, donor eggs, ease of access from Gatwick, high quality drs, ease of communication and response time from clinic.  

It's our fourth attempt - 1st time with DE - The Lister assure us it's because my eggs are poor quality nothing else - 43 years old! So for the 1st attempt with DE we're not too bothered about rigorous testing.  However, having read a couple of Daisy's posts elsewhere I am beginning to wonder if we shouldn't rethink this.  

I have my inlaws descending for the weekend but I will spend Monday and Tuesday focused on this.  

If you would like my list of variables I am more than happy to post them.  I could be wasting a lot of time by looking at stuff that isn't really going to make a difference and maybe missing stuff that will, so open to any suggestions from you and anybody else out there who has been on this journey before me.

Lots of love
Podbean


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## daisyg (Jan 7, 2004)

Hi everyone,

There are various ways of looking at the proven donor aspect.  On the one hand, it is reassuring on many levels if a donor has sucessfully given birth to her own children.  It does indicate fertility and also maybe would be easier for her to donate in many ways having already had children etc. (I often worry about girls who may donate now but be unable to have children later and how they may feel about that...).

BUT don't forget that this is only one aspect.  There is no proof/guarantee that someone who gets pg naturally will respond well to an ivf cycle.  Also, she has to be trusted to take her meds. correctly/respond to the meds doseage etc etc.  That is why in the USA for example, a proven donor refers to someone who has donated via a clinic and a recipient has had a pregnancy or live birth as a result.  This is more reliable than whether she has her own kids or not (she may have had them some years before and her hormone profile has now deteriorated for example).

As you point out, you are most likely to find that the E. European clinics have donors in their 20s who have children.  However, they have not necessarily been proved via DE ivf and you may be paying for an experimental cycle.... 

The reason why most people use a clinic/ivf proven donor is why be the one to potentially waste a cycle using your donor as a guinea pig etc etc when you could have a donor who has already successfully been through the ivf process.

These are just things to consider IMHO.  You may get more information on the donor in the E. European clinics which is another important consideration especially if you are being open with your child about their conception.  This is an aspect I am finding challenging - I have no info. on either of my donors even though I plan to tell my children starting now about how they came to be.  I hope they will be ok with the little knowledge I have about their donors.

Podbean

As you know, I do go on and on about testing!!  This is from bitter experience of being told my eggs were too old (despite producing 6 embies and getting pg for all 3 ivfs with own eggs age 44 -44.5).  I miscarried all these pgs plus my first donor egg pg.  After testing I was diagnosed with clotting and autoimmune issues - all easily treated and was successful on my 6th ivf attempt with donor embryos.

So, any testing you and DH can do beforehand is a good idea if you can stand it....

Best wishes,

Daisy
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## podbean (Jan 16, 2008)

Daisy 
Thank you for your information.  I'm running out the door now so can't give this the time it requires. 
I will look at it tomorrow am and incorporate the pros and cons into our analysis.
You seem exceptionally well informed from your postings that I have read.  
Thank you for taking the time to participate in our journey and for sharing your experience and wealth of knowledge with us. 
Lots of love
Podbean


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