# Donor Egg Experience



## Green_Lizard (Mar 7, 2014)

Hi

My partner and I are both 44.  He has two children from his previous marriage now in their teens and I do not have any children.  We really want a baby together and have been trying since 2012.  I got pregnant naturally in 2013 but had a missed miscarriage at 12 weeks after which my cycles went a bit haywire.  I got another BFP in November but had another missed miscarriage at 8 weeks.  I have been tested at the recurrent miscarriage clinic at St Mary's and they cannot find any reason for them except a likely factor is our combined age and in particular my egg quality. MY FSH is 8, AMH 1.3.

So we find ourselves thinking about donor eggs.  Does anyone have any experience? advice? recommendations?

Thank you!


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## dillydolly (Mar 11, 2005)

You are probably best looking into either uk donor or overseas donor and then picking a couple of clinics and join their thread for any info you need


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## Oli03 (Oct 17, 2012)

Hi
You can approach a few clinics in the UK and ask about their waiting lists or you can also find your donor through an egg donation agency. 

The two most popular are Altrui: www.altrui.co.uk and New Life: www.eggdonation-uk.com

We went with New Life and and I have just given birth to a little girl thanks to the donor we got from them.

Good luck
Oli


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## UK-Canuck (Sep 3, 2011)

Hi Green Lizard

Also have a look at the donor conception network charity. They don't recommend clinics or anything, but if you join them, you can meet other people in all sorts of donor situations. They also do "preparing for parenthood workshops" which DH & I found massively helpful. Please do try fully think through the implications of going abroad and future issues with anonymity or not and what doors it opens or closes for your child(ren) in the future, as there have been a few ladies who have found doubts have surfaced when they were pregnant and then obviously couldn't change their initial choices. Just do your research as best you can. 

Also, it is a myth that all UK clinics have 2+ year waiting lists! I'm sure some do, but some don't have any at all. The waiting lists seem often to be the main reason people rush abroad to anonymous donors, ie they want to get on with treatment - which I completely understand. But personally we didn't want to take the option away from any child(ren) we have with donor eggs, from finding out who their donor was. Cost is another reason some people have for going abroad, but I didn't find our DE cycle any more expensive than our OE one - although I have learnt to buy the drugs from ASDA & not the hospital's overpriced pharmacy 

Lots of luck with your journey & fingers crossed for a positive outcome soon.  PM me if you want any more info - although I've probably spouted most of my thoughts in previous posts 

Canuck xx


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## Moragob (Apr 1, 2012)

Hi Green Lizard

We too have been to the recurrent miscarriage clinic at St Marys after 5 miscarriages with very similar findings to you ( can't remember exactly when but it would have been 2009/2010).  I was extremely fortunate to get a BFP on our first donor egg IVF in Barcelona in July 2012 and now have a beautiful 13 month old daughter born when I was 46.  Dreams can come true.

I can't really add to the advice given here  by others - except to say treatment in the UK wasn't an option for us as trying to find a donor wasn't working and also I am still very happy with the anonymity of our donor. It is important to think this through,  there is also a couple of good articles about regarding epigentics which I found very helpful.

My sister in law is currently going through DEIVF on the NHS in Wiltshire and the waits between consultations and treatments are very long - 15 months since her first treatment which ended as a BFN and she is still waiting for her next chance, due to the scarity of donors.  It will differ around the country but we didn't have the luxury of time, so it important to be fully informed and make your own decision.

We are all different and if knowing who your donor is  feels important then the UK is probably the best option, if this is not important then you will have a huge amount of research and choices to make.

Either way, this forum is a very good start and I wish you the very best of luck.

Morag


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## RAN72 (Dec 29, 2010)

Hi all

I am currently 17 weeks pregnant following a DE cycle with CARE in Nottingham. I cannot recommend them enough, this is our second successful donor egg cycle with them and both times we didn't have to wait more than a couple of months for a donor match. First pregnancy was high risk and we lost the twins at 23+2 weeks, this was unrelated to the fact it was a DE cycle.

CARE have you go through counselling before they put you on the waiting list so that you understand the implications. We don't know who the donor is but our child can find out some details when they come of age. 

I would certainly recommend looking at all options with DE and really make sure you have considered all the implications.

Good luck

Xx ran72


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## Green_Lizard (Mar 7, 2014)

Thanks for your replies.

We have decided to look at DE in the UK and have a few appointments coming up with CARE, Northampton (consultants, Sperm Anyalysis, Pre-treatment Scan and counselling session) to ascertain if are good to go ahead.  They say they do not currently have a waiting list for those looking for Caucasian donors and as my partner so charmingly pointed out, I am quite average looking   so am hoping that it won't be too long a wait to find a similarity match.

What sort of things do they ask you to consider from a matching perspective?  What did you consider to be important?


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## RAN72 (Dec 29, 2010)

Hi green lizard

The characteristics from an anonymous donor that are shared and used for matching are: height, skin type, eye colour, blood type, hair colour, ethnic origin and CMV status. You can choose how close a match you require. We were also easy as both of us are olive skinned and I am average height, brown eyes, CMV+ and O+. Our donor is pretty much me apart from an inch shorter and my partners blood type not mine. If you don't wish to let any resultant child know they were created via donor egg you will have to wait for a donor who has your blood type. The CMV status is down to matching, it's a virus many folks have antibodies to but if your donor does and you don't there is a tiny risk that your body will have immune issues with the embryo - very small as it's only if by some strange turn of events some blood cells from the donor carry over into culture which is rare given the methods they use to clean up the embryo prior to introducing the sperm into the situation. 

Hope that helps - good luck! X

Xx ran72


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## Brendaa (Feb 27, 2014)

I'm sorry to hear abt your losses(( I have DE experience. We with DH couldn't conceive for a long time due to my POF( we did the procedure 2,5 years ago. Now we have twins) Our donor was matched with me according to my phenotype, so my babies looks like me and my hubby, I mean hair & eyes color, shape of face etc. As for me using ED is a great chance to complete the family. Recomendation is to find good place to go for the procedure, as for me it is very important to find good clinic and qualified doctor & of course, be positive))) being positive helped me to withdraw everything)) Best regards for you and all the bestXXXX


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## RSL (Feb 12, 2012)

Hi all

Just wanted to add to this post & our current experience of DE....

Where to start is a nightmare -which clinic etc.....

Once we'd settled on New Life egg bank, the clinic followed (she only works with certain clinics, so our choice was reduced).

Anna at New Life is v honest & straightforward & I think she really does care & want to get it right for you. They have about 200 donors on their books We have a donor (Caucasian) we like within a couple of weeks (& that was partly cos we asked to see child photos, so had to wait for those to be uploaded from donor). She was patient till we got donor we liked...Don't feel you have to take the first offer (we didn't). She has many proven donors (so less likely to drop out, already passed screening tests & known success rate -less unknowns).

We wanted exclusivity on the eggs & NL is £1000 less than LWC or Bridge who charge extra £3000 for this. Plus Anna will replace for free if donor pulls out. Plus plus ! you don't pay her anything until you're happy  with the match, so she has an incentive to make sure you're happy with donor. 

We're going to Create for cycle (been there before)as they don't add on a £3000 admin charge, so just pay cycle cost. Aiming for consultation next week for us & donor, then ET late July which coincides with my time off work...Can't wait!!
RSL


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## RAN72 (Dec 29, 2010)

Hullo - just wanted to let you know our DE ICSI IVF bubba arrived somewhat early at 31 weeks on 24/6 and he is doing well. I cannot thank the science of DE IVF enough, Elliot is perfect and we're totally in love.

Keep the faith

Xx ran72


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## Moragob (Apr 1, 2012)

Fantastic news Ran - it's always so good to hear the success stories.  It still astounds me that we finally have the child we longed for, the science is just so wonderful as are the people who donate and allow us this chance.

Enjoy every moment with him - it really is precious.   

Morag


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## Green_Lizard (Mar 7, 2014)

Just an update.  Got our BFP this morning following a 2 x 5day blasto transfer a week ago!     

I am thrilled (but cautiously so as I know from experience this is just the first step) 

Xxx


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## Moragob (Apr 1, 2012)

Green Lizard

Enjoy every moment - how wonderful for you.  It is the first step and hopefully it will be your first step into this joyful adventure that is motherhood and if it is not then enjoy it anyway.

Wishing you a happy and healthy pregnancy

  

Morag


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## RAN72 (Dec 29, 2010)

Congratulations green lizard! Woo hoo bfp!


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