# Egg sharing + Cryos sperm bank



## BEmama (Jun 24, 2018)

Hello, I am looking for clinics that offer egg sharing AND are willing to let us use donor sperm from the Cryos sperm bank. Preferably in London or that area. Any ideas?


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## hannahdaisy (Oct 23, 2016)

Hi, I'm with the Lister Clinic in London. We've egg shared and used donor sperm. We didn't use it from Cryos, but it was on their suggested list.


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## BEmama (Jun 24, 2018)

Oh that's great to hear! We already considered the Lister, but because their information packet says they only use the London Sperm Bank, Semovo, Xytex, and the European Sperm Bank we dismissed them. (We had a look at all of those but we really want a donor with an extended profile and pics, and there isn't a lot of choice there). I wish the clinics were clearer about all of this, we would never have known that it was possible if I hadn't posted here. Thank you!


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## hannahdaisy (Oct 23, 2016)

Ah, my mistake then, maybe it's not on their list. But that's just a suggested list, we actually used Brighton Fertility Associates and they were absolutely fine with that.


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## BEmama (Jun 24, 2018)

I have emailed them for more information about it, I hope you're right and they can be flexible on this! It does seem like a good choice for a clinic.

Do you know of any other London area clinics (that egg share and possibly work with Cryos) I should try to contact?


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## hannahdaisy (Oct 23, 2016)

I'm sure that'll be absolutely fine  as I say, we used a clinic that wasn't on their list and everything was ok. Think it just has to be an accredited one or whatever, not sure which word to use! 

Not sure about other clinics to be honest. We went to the London Women's Clinic first to have our AMH and antral follicle count done with the intention of egg sharing with them but when we met with the consultant she didn't seem very friendly and was making my partner's AMH sound awful, it was 11 something, and said she definitely couldn't egg share and that she needed to hurry up and have treatment, making us panic a bit. The Lister was recommended to us through a friend and we went to an open evening there and liked it much more, we've seen two consultants there and both have been great. I think looking into open evenings is a good thing to do, gives you a little feel for the place.

Happy to answer anything about the Lister though if you have any questions  we're currently on our second cycle there.


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## BEmama (Jun 24, 2018)

The London Women's Clinic seems to have different rules about egg sharing also, you need to have at least 12 there? It sounds like they have a better policy at the Lister. I only wish they would actually answer emails! (deep breaths, haha)

My other main concern is with travel, we are currently living in Belgium (although my partner is British) and I wanted to figure out how many trips to London we will need to make, and how long we will need to stay. Am I right in thinking we will need to go by at least twice for an day appointment, once for all the tests, once to start the program if the tests are okay? And then I need to stay for a long period while I have the IVF cycle? Like 2-3 weeks?


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## hannahdaisy (Oct 23, 2016)

I'm not sure now about how many eggs you need at that clinic, but I know that they require a much higher AMH. Ah I know, sometimes emails seem to take a while to get a reply, just try not to let that put you off! I've found that if it's anything important you'll get a quick reply and failing that, just ring them.

I had to go to the clinic once for a quick antral follicle scan and AMH blood test, then 2-3 days later we had to go to the long appointment (about 4ish hours) where you see the consultant to go over your results and make a plan, see a counsellor, have lots of blood taken, see a nurse etc. 

After that you'll have a gap of about 4-6 weeks for them to do all the blood tests, then they'll match you with a recipient and once they sync your cycles you're good to go. I'd say 3 weeks is a good estimate, possibly learning more towards 4. I started down reg on the 13th and they think I might be ready for egg collection around the 3/4th July. That'll be 3 weeks and then your embryos will hopefully make it to blastocyst, so add on another 5 days!

Hope that all makes sense!


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## BEmama (Jun 24, 2018)

@hannahdaisy, it does, thank you! It's a longer cycle than I imagined it would be, so it's good to know in terms of planning and finances what we should expect. 

We managed to reach the Lister Clinic today for more information, and the answer is NO, they do not work with Cryos. Currently they are only working with the London Sperm Bank and the European Sperm Bank. I asked about the Seattle sperm bank as well, but they don't anymore because there have been problems with shipping and it takes too long. 

Since the London sperm bank doesn't do extended profiles or pictures and the European sperm bank has only a handful of donors we will likely have to look on... Ugh, I'm annoyed about it, I was starting to really like the idea of going to the Lister! Boo.


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## hannahdaisy (Oct 23, 2016)

Oh my goodness! I'm very surprised about that, I'm going to have to email them or ask someone at an appointment. This has concerned me about our future. We have one vial left that we should be using for this cycle but obviously we don't know how it'll go yet, how many will fertilise and then for the FET whether they'll be good enough to use etc. Could end up needing another cycle in the future and then not able to use the same donor unless we go somewhere else!


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## BEmama (Jun 24, 2018)

Oh no, I'm sorry... That's what we were told on the phone yesterday. Maybe they will be more flexible or willing to do it for you because you are an existing client, versus us just calling for information? I hope so for you!


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## hannahdaisy (Oct 23, 2016)

Thank you! Something that definitely needs checking out.


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## BEmama (Jun 24, 2018)

I have been asking around everywhere, so just in case other people would like to know, these are the replies we got: 

-Lister clinic does not use Cryos. They use European sperm bank and London sperm bank. Possibly also the Seattle sperm bank. (When we called them they said they don't anymore because there have been problems with shipping and it takes too long, but when we contacted the Seattle sperm bank themselves they said yes to working with the London sperm bank, only that it would take several months total for the sperm to get there, which we can live with if we can get it arranged like that) 

-CARE clinic does not use Cryos. They use the California sperm bank and London sperm bank. So again a faint chance they'd accept it from the Seattle one as well, but I'm not sure at all on this. 

-Bourn hall clinic DOES use Cryos, no problem! 

...this is the research I've done so far *g* If anyone knows anything more please tell us!


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