# How to choose between egg sharing or standard DIUI



## Allie23 (Nov 30, 2011)

Hello all,

I'm currently considering my options as a single woman.

My main worry is how I am going to afford treatment.  I am seriously thinking about egg sharing and would like to hear from other people who have tried this.

I'm absolutely fine with donating my eggs.  But my hesitation is that I don't actually know if it will work out cheaper for me.

I haven't gone for all the tests yet, but I'm 28 and have no reason to believe that I have any fertility problems.  If I were to be told that I didn't need to take drugs with DIUI then I don't think there would be much difference in price between that and egg sharing since there still seem to be quite a few additional costs even if the actual IVF is free.

If there is no price difference, then I am very hesitant to put myself through the physical and emotional trauma of IVF if there is no need to.  Especially since I will be doing this on my own.

So, can anyone help!?

How common is it for a 28 year old to be told that they don't need drugs with DIUI?

What kind of additional costs associated with egg sharing do I need to be on the look-out for?

How did you go about making your decisions and how do you feel about the decisions you made?

Thanks!


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## Tommi (Jun 22, 2011)

Hi Allie23  

I would think that if you don't have any fertility issues and your tests all come back OK the chances are pretty high that you won't need drugs for IUI. I'm 14 years older than you and was told to go for natural cycle IUI first (which they think resulted in a chemical pg). I only went for the clomid this month because I wanted to see if it increased my chances but probably wouldn't do it again. I was on the lowest dose and got 4 follies - any more and they would have abandoned treatment. I bought enough clomid for four months and that cost £8. Also had 2 scans and an hcg injection. 

Sorry I can't help with the egg sharing... I'm waaaaaay too old!

Good luck in your journey    

T xx


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## morrigan (Dec 8, 2009)

Allie  i cant help with the egg sharing but i think drug with diui varies greatly from clinic to clinic. I started my treatment with absulutely no drugs with diui then added just trigger shot (£10.00 ish) in then moved to clomid tablets stimulated iui. None of the drugs involved with that are expensive where as injectable stim drugs can work out at upwards of £35 a day. While there is no reason you couldnt get pregnant with out drugs with diui , stimming does increase the chances so you have to weight up the possible cost of multiple iuis then again it could work first time- your young after all!

You will need to pay the cost of sperm which ever option but where you have tx with iui varies the cost enormously from £200 with anonymous donors in places in europe to £1000 plus donor costs at some uk clinics.

Sorry not very helpful but theres a lot of variables when speaking to clinics to cost i would make sure you find out if following is included

donor sperm
some places charge pregnancy slot
hfea fee if in uk
scan/blood test costs
drug costs or can you source them yourself with private pescription
inital consult fees/ tests they make you have with them (ie std ones can be done free but some will want to do own )
luteal support drugs after tx if needed

also if looking at diui i would make sure chosen clinic can do procedure on any day of the year if its clinically best- there are clinics that for eg don't open sundays which if you need you iui on a sunday and have to have it on mon morn instead could reduce your chances and therefore have cost implications.

im sure some egg sharers will be along shortly to advise.


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## Bambiboo (Oct 23, 2009)

Hi

I egg shared for my first treatment. In hindsight it was a mistake as at that time I didn't need IVF and could have tried IUI first. The sharing wasn't a mistake just the timing and need for invasive procedure. I don't regret sharing my eggs.

I personally was also unhappy with the clinic that did my egg sharing, I felt they were more interested in my eggs than my welfare.  When I egg shared later after several IUIs at a different clinic it was a much better experience.

My advice is try IUI first, maybe abroad. You can always egg share later. You are young with time on your side.

Feel free to pm me with any questions if you need to x x


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## DZWSingleMumma (Nov 18, 2010)

Just experience with DIUI.  It's MUCH less intrusive than IVF.  IVF of any type requires stimulation of the ovaries and surgery.  

I went for Stim DIUI as my ovararies weren't producing as follies as they should have. I took clomid for 4 days and had 1 trigger shot on the day of my treatment.  

My suggestion with healthy ovaries that are young is to go for DIUI.  Mine took first time even with slightly dodgy ovaries!

If you want an indication of how much treatment was abroad please PM me.  It was 1/4 the cost of doing it in the UK for me per cycle and I got a lovely long holiday weekend out of it.

Cheers,

Dawn

P.S. As an aside I think egg donation is amazing and such a gift!


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## Allie23 (Nov 30, 2011)

Thanks everyone, this is all really very helpful.

All the different options are quite confusing and so it's really helpful to hear about other people's experinces.  In particular, I really appreciate hearing about all the different drugs available since this is one of the things which is worrying me.  I wonder if any of you would mind telling me if you felt that the drugs had any emotional impact for you?  I tend to suffer quite badly with PMT and so am very aware of the effect that different hormones can have on my emotional balance.  On the one level, I'm concerned about adding to this since trying to get pregnant is obviously a very emotionally challenging time.  This is one of the aspects of going through this on my own that worries me the most.  But on the other hand, I think that I've got a lot of experience already with dealing with the emotional impact of hormone imbalances!

Tommi - thanks and positive thoughts to you as well!

Morrigan - thanks in particular for the tips on questions to ask.  I will definitely be asking the clinic if they are open every day!

Bambiboo - I'm sorry that you weren't happy with your first experience of egg sharing.  This is definitely one of my worries.

Bambiboo and Dawn - I'd definitely be interested to hear more about your experiences of trying IUI abroad.  It looks cheaper, but I was concerned that once you'd factored in the cost of travel it probably wouldn't work out all that much cheaper in reality.  I'm also worried about the stress levels of having to travel for treatment.  I can't quite imagine how I would fit it in around my work...

Thanks all!


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## Bambiboo (Oct 23, 2009)

Hi Allie - just a quicky. Even with travel IUI abroad still tends to work out cheaper. I flew to Copenhagen for the day for treatment and all in it cost about £600. I live near a major airport which helps. I also had a flexible work schedule so could fit in around work.

Have you had a fertility "mot"? If not that would be my first port of call find out where you stand. I wish I had done that. No point spending months having IUI only to find months later that tubes are blocked (as an example). 

I don't know where you live in UK but if considering egg sharing still I would recommend Care, they have several centres. 

Good luck x x


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