# Considering Egg Share



## Bernice (May 23, 2005)

Hi

Me and DH have finally come to the conclusion that egg share may be our only chance to have a baby as we can't afford private treatment and our PCT is not funding at the moment.  DH also has a daughter previously.  I am still holding out for that miracle of natural conception but the longer I hold on the more upsetting it is and the more we argue    I have just had my tubes unblocked and part of me says to just wait for a while longer and see if it happens naturally but how can it when I am so stressed about it?  Plus I dont think our marriage could stand another battering at the moment.  I would also like to try IUI before going for IVF but again money is an issue.

I know it sounds stupid but I would also feel like a failure if I needed to have IVF.  How can I not conceive?!  It's a woman's right and the main reason she was put on this earth and yet so many of us have so much trouble.  

Does anyone know if egg share is successful without ICSI for a 'low normal' SA?  DH is within normal limits but at the lower end after a reversed vasectomy.  We are planning to go to The Lister Hospital in London.

Sorry for the ramblings of a mad woman    but I would really like some advice from people who have been through similar problems.  Also how many cycles can you have before they give up on you?

Thanks 

Ruby


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## CLARETTC (Aug 24, 2004)

Hi Ruby welcome to the egg-share board xx

I am egg-sharing at the moment due to tubal problems, i have had 2 ectopics but still have my tubes.

I will try and answer your questions best i can xx 
As far as i am aware they cannot give women with tubal problems iui, this is usually offered to other ladies but with tubal problems the egg still has to come down the tube and the sperm swim up so i think in your case it would be a complete waste of money if you have sperm problems too, and although they say they can unblock tubes the whole point of you going through this is because you cant get pg naturally.


I think it is only natural that you want to conceive without help, i felt like that too but women with tubal problems appently respond quite well to ivf as you just have to get everything in the right place (iyswim). I know you have had your tubes unblocked ,but as far as i know they can block up again, can i ask if you were diagnosed with hydrosalpinx or not?? As this can make a difference to ivf. To be honest i wish we had gone straight to ivf after our first ectopic, but we wanted to try naturally and i ended up with another one, some ladies just need a bit of extra help .



Basically the only way egg-share differes to normal ivf is however many eggs you get , half go to the recipient woman, so if you get 16 eggs you get 8 and the recipient gets 8. I dont know how much they charge at the lister, i am at care and a basic egg-share is £500, but then you need to add on the **** licence , and cost of freezing any embryos you may have over which is £300 at care.

At care if you get  less  than 8 eggs you have to decide whether to keep all the eggs (but you cant egg-share again) or give them all to the recipient (but you get a cycle all to yourself).

As for the icsi, it all depends on whether your consultant feels hubbies sperm result is good enough for ivf. SA results can differ from time to time and many things can effect it so it might be worth getting him to take supplements of zinc, and abstaining from alcohol as this can reduce sperm production. This is something no-one can really give you the answer to except the consultant, but again it  costs extra for icsi. 

Your GP might fund the drugs for your egg-share which at care would reduce the basic cost to £150 which might be worth asking about too.

As long as you are producing enough eggs i think you can have quite a few cycles before they say stop, it also depends on how old you are as donors have to be under 36. You will need lots of blood tests, including HIV, cystic fibrosis carrier and you must not have any life limiting / inheritable diseases in your close family such as spina bifida, dwarfism, cf, sickle cell etc.


I hope this helps hun xxx


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## Bernice (May 23, 2005)

Hi

Thanks for trying to answer my questions for me.  As far as I know The Lister is totally free, the only thing we have to pay for is the HFEA fee of £103 which is considerably better than £3000 for the full treatment.  

My situation is a bit odd in that I went for an HSG and they said there was a query as to whether my tubes were blocked or not.  I was given the option to keep TTC naturally and if after six months still not pregnant then I should aim for IVF or I could have a lap and dye to assess the damage.  I opted for the lap and dye and when I came round they told me I had free fill and spill from both tubes so all was normal.  Whether that means they were never blocked in the first place I dont know.  So my chances of normal conception are obviously not as low as they would be with just MF IF but are still low because of low SA.  The main problem we were told about is sperm antibodies but our clinic wouldnt test for them because they said he doesnt have any bearing on conceiving   Apparently some men can have 100% antibodies and still get their wives pregnant when some can have no antibodies and still have trouble.  

I am still waiting for all the info to come through but your thoughts have been very helpful.  Its nice to know someone else is going through the same sort of thing and how they do things in different hospitals.  

Thanks again 

Ruby
x


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## fluffyhelen9999 (May 13, 2005)

Hiya,

Just wanted to say that I had egg sharing at the lister, and if u do need ICSI as well, they charge an extra £1050.  I needed ICSI coz my dh has MAR antibodies (didn't realise they had stopped testing for this but then this was in 2003).

Anyway, best of luck,

Helen x


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## olivia.c (Apr 28, 2005)

I had my first appointment at the Lister Hospital yesterday for egg sharing.  I was impressed with the time and information I was given.  I have endometriosis and have been ttc for 3 years.  My lap and dye showed that my tubes were not blocked and that my ovaries were fine. In theory I could possibly get pregnant through IUI but the success rate is much lower than IVF.  I am on the waiting list for IVF on the NHS ( 2 year wait, said i could expect to wait till Dec 2006), so I decided to look into going privately.  I had seen an advert for egg share before I even knew i would need IVF and thought it looked interesting. The Doctor at the Lister was very informative. He tells you about the cycle and the drugs.  He reassured me that they dont give you higher amounts of drugs to stimulate your ovaries, and there is no increase in the incidence of OHHS.  I had been told by the NHS clinic whose list I am on that doing egg share would mean that they gave me more drugs and that I would have to pay for them.  This is not true.  The Lister pay for everything except for HFEA fee and if you want to store the embryos (about £1000).  You can also opt to pay for blastocyst (day 5) embryo transfer (£500) which he said had an higher success rate. At any time before egg collection you can opt out and the cycle remains free but you will not get the opportunity to egg share again.  You also have to remember that while you are going through the cycle so are maybe 2 others who will be devastated if their donor dropped out.
We also had a counselling session where we were told about the legal and ethical issues surrounding egg share.  I didn't realise that the donor decides whether the recipient can keep their embryos to freeze.  With the change in the law donating an egg has become more like adoption (they can come and find you when they grow up).  There is certainly a lot to think about. 
My gut feeling is that I am going to go for it.  I am desperate to have a baby and I guess lucky that I may have the eggs to get pregnant.  If I didn't, I would seriously consider recieving an egg. The waiting list is two years plus for these women.  I am going to have to go through all the injections, suppositories and proddings anyway. You have to wait 3 months for your 2 HIV tests and then the clinic has to pair you with a recipient. I also have an appointment with my NHS clinic, at the end of september, who also offer Private IVF (£2500 inc drugs) .  The nurse at this clinic was quite negative about egg share.  
Has any one else been to the lister for eggshare? Are there any hidden problems?


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## Bernice (May 23, 2005)

Hi Olivia 

I was interested to hear you views on the Lister.  I actually heard through it at work (im a medical secretary and the consultant I work for cut an article out of the paper for me) and so far I have heard no bad reports.  

I am going for my informal visit with DH on 13th September and will hopefully get all my questions answered.  Like you I have nothing wrong with my eggs so I am lucky that this is an option for us.  Probably will have slight male factor though.  Did they say whether they pay for ICSI if needed?  Anyway, provided all goes well and I understand the implications fully I am definitely going to go for it.  I have an NHS appointment to discuss my options on 12th September but as we cant afford private treatment there will be no options open for us there.  I also want to help someone else now that I know the heartache involved with TTC.  

Good luck with your appointment, I hope you come to your decision easily!  

Feel free to IM me if you want to talk - we could end up   together!  I have already made a provisional appointment for 10th October for all the tests etc.

Take care

Ruby
x


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## midnightaction (May 20, 2003)

Hiya Ladies  

I am currently going through the Egg Sharing Programe at The Lister and I have nothing but good things to say about them, everyone who works there is so friendly and helpful, and if you have any queries or questions about anything the Nurses will always take the time to return your call to discuss it with you. 

I am waiting to be matched with a recipient at the moment, so I haven't actually had my first cycle with them yet, but I am 100% confident that when I do it will be just as professional as everything else I have experienced from them so far. 

If you have any questions at all about it I am more then happy to answer them, feel free to IM me  

Good luck 

Sarah xxx


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## blueytoo (Oct 5, 2003)

I am currently in the 2ww wait after my second egg share cycle at the Lister.

Everyone there is really lovely and always answer questions. Sometimes it can seem really, really busy - particularly in the winter months both waiting rooms can be full with people standing around. At these times the nurses can rush through your appointments with them but if you make sure to ask the questions they will answer.

They definitely do give you slightly more units of stimulating drugs on the egg share scheme than just those on IVF. My first cycle I was on 2 amps alternated with 3 amps whereas if you look at the non-egg sharers on the their first cycle they tend to be started on 1 amp or occassionally 2 amps. I got 12 eggs from that with 3 immature ones. 

This second cycle I was on 3 amps each day, whereas non-egg sharers on 2nd cycles would probably stay at the same level considering a good response last time. I got 15 eggs this time with 2 immature. I have ended up with mild OHSS.

It seems that 10 is the number of eggs above which OHSS and quality can become an issue. 

Having said all that I am not unhappy with them at all and they do seem to go all out to try and get you pregnant. 

As an egg sharer you only pay for HFEA fee - £103 and ICSI if you need it which is a little over £1000.00

Good luck

Claire xx


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## @[email protected] (Apr 11, 2005)

Hi All 

I am new to the group so I thought that I would introduce myself. My name’s Deborah, but everyone calls me Debs.

A little about me, I got sterilised after having two children and a divorce, never thought I would ever settle down again let alone meet a wonderful guy (whom I am marrying next year ) let alone wanting another child.
But I was so wrong. We are both very desperate to have a child, complete our family.

We decided to look at IVF egg share but due to the fact that my blood group is Sickle Cell Trait we could not go ahead at the first clinic we went to.  So I emailed every clinic in the UK and out of those who said they could help us, was the Womens in Birmingham.

I've not been on the forums for a little while. Lots been happening at my end.  got married 3 weeks ago , (father in law died 10 days before)   spent a week in sunny Kos, came back to rain, then back  to work the following day.  So it's been all go!!!  

Starting to get things back on track now.  We had the counselling session at the Womens last tues and we got the test etc this tues. After the tests, we got the long wait till the end of Sept to find out if we can go ahead with IVF egg share or not. fingers x'd.

So what stage are you all at?

Debs


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