# When to start the process...



## steph0402 (Jun 13, 2013)

Hi everyone, me and my partner are hoping to conceive (all being well) at the beginning of next year. I'm unsure when to book an initial consultation and get the ball rolling if I want to egg share. I've read loads of things about waiting times and people seem to have waited different lengths of time for results to come back, be matched with a recipient etc. We can't afford the cost of donor sperm until at least January but could afford to start paying for the other stuff towards the end of this year. Planning to use LWC Darlington. Any advice on a good time to start? TIA


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## pollita (Feb 23, 2011)

Hi Steph!

There's nothing wrong with booking a consultation now. I think they can take a couple of weeks from booking to having the appointment, then it's onto blood tests which take up to 6 weeks to come back, although if you mention in your consultation when you would like to start they will best advise on when to have the blood tests as I *think* they have to be done within 6 months of starting treatment. 

Here's my timeline if it helps. I'm at a different clinic but they seem to be quite similar:

May 13th - called to book appointment
May 29th - appointment (first available) + had AMH blood done at same time
June 12th - AMH results & booked blood screening tests
June 13th - had blood tests done (no wait for these as they are done in 10 minutes with a nurse)
July 25th - Blood test results came back clear, have been listed as a donor

I'm currently waiting to be chosen as someone's donor, which the clinic said can take up to 3 months, although usually a lot quicker. It's been 2 weeks and nothing yet. When someone chooses me I have to go in for a treatment plan and will be told when I will likely start injections etc. This can vary from anything to almost straight away to a couple of months later depending on lots of things, such as where you and the recipient are in your cycles (some recipients don't have a natural cycle so then it's just based on the start of your next one), and also whether you or your recipient have any holidays or commitments which will postpone treatment. 

In all likelihood if I'm chosen by someone in the next 6 weeks I could be looking at starting a cycle in October or November most likely, meaning up to a 6 month wait. 

Hope that helps!


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## olivepuppy (Jun 22, 2012)

Hi steph,
We are sharing at the lister and had our initial appointment on the 6th march, I had been in the week before for my amh bloods to make sure they were fine prior to the appointment. I am due for egg collection on weds so roughly 5 months after we first went in. 
Hope that helps


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## steph0402 (Jun 13, 2013)

Thank you so much for replies! Very helpful   Good luck finding a recipient Pollita and good luck with egg collection Olivepuppy, how exciting! Xx


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## steph0402 (Jun 13, 2013)

Forgot to say...hoping to book an appointment for sometime in September


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## orchidz (Feb 20, 2013)

I have egg shared twice. First time was 6 months from first appointment to ec due to me having to have a op. Second time was much quicker as didn't need the same level of tests. Was 2 months from making the call to ec.


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## djjim22 (Mar 7, 2014)

Hi Steph0402, I'm currently in the process of egg sharing at Darlington. Had my initial appointment at the beginning of May but had to postpone starting as they found two large cysts on my ovary so was told to come back in a few months to see if they had gone. Went back beginning of July and they had gone so they did AMH bloods then. Waited 8 days I think for those to come back and then was booked in for next appointment two weeks later to have chromosome bloods taken. Currently waiting for those results which they have told me could take 5 weeks to return. They are lovely at Darlington and you pay for bloods etc as you have them. If I were you I'd book a consultation now as there is a lot of waiting around initially for bloods etc then as pollita says there is also a wait for a match. I will also be using donor sperm and haven't had to pay for that yet which is the most expensive part!xx


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