Hello everyone, I have had a bit of a break from ttc after my first ivf cycle that resulted in a chemical pregnancy and subsequent miscarriage, to have spinal surgery. I feel much more physically prepared for pregnancy now. How I thought I could carry a child when my back hurt so much is silly in hindsight!
Anyway, we have recently moved and changed clinics. It’s the best thing we could have done. Yesterday we had our first appointment with the professor there was refreshingly honest and described my fertility issues and chances of success very well. We have now decided to use donor eggs. I’m devastated and positive in equal measures right now. Please could those who have gone down the donor egg route share their experiences? We want to go into this with our eyes wide open and aware as much as possible of the consequences.
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Eltel81
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I’m just starting my first donor round after 5 full rounds with my own eggs. My friend is being my donor and she looks like she will be starting stims in 10 days. It’s definitely odd and sad and exciting all at the same time! But I’m so ready for better odds.
If my friend wasn’t being my donor I had been planning to use the agency Altrui.
I had 4 mcs since turning 40, then tried one round of OE ICSI which failed, so it seemed a clear choice to use DE if we wanted to be parents. Not to say I didn't grieve for the child that might have been. I found the donor conception network website to be a really good source of information and reassurance. We have chosen to use UK donors as I strongly feel that the child should be able to trace the donor if they choose. We didn't have a long wait to match with either of our donors and we've been pleasantly surprised at the information available on the donor profiles. Our first DE cycle wasn't successful and I suppose goes to show that there are still no guarantees (our clinic uses donor up to 35 and I suspect our first was closer to the cutoff). However I'm now anxiously 9 weeks pregnant after an FET from our second donor.
I'm more than happy to answer any questions, please feel free to pm me if needed.
Thank you for sharing. It sounds like you’ve been through a lot of heartache and I really hope this time is THE time for you.
We had our counselling session at the fertility clinic yesterday and talked through how and when you would tell a child about DE, which really helped. The counsellor suggested the Donor Conception Network as a great source of information and support, so I’m going to sign up.
Thank you for your lovely message. I'm glad you found the counselling useful.. I forgot to mention it but we also had it and found it really valuable too. I wouldn't hesitate to go back to the consellor again if I had any worries.
Im sure you know already but we are doing DE, Im more than happy to chat anytime if you have any questions or if you think I can help with anything. It can be quite overwhelming and a lot to get your head around.xx
Thank you! I am getting my head around it well, considering we only found out it’s our only realistic hope of having a family on Monday, I’m more excited to start the process now!! X
We used my eggs for 3 fresh and 1 FET cycles which ended up with two miscarriages. The % chance of it working with my eggs we were told 10%, but with DE 50%.
We used Access Fertility, a refund package for DE.
Had the appointment in the October and started treatment in January.
We had 11 eggs collected, only 3 fertilised.
1 transferred, none to freeze.
We are currently 17 weeks (tomorrow).
I don’t feel any differently towards this pregnancy to any of the previous ones...I’m growing and loving the baby from the beginning x
I did three cycles with own eggs that failed. It comes down to wanting to be parents more than using my own eggs so decided to go down the donor egg route. You do have questions about will the baby look like you etc. But my clinic reassured me they are experts at matching you physically to the donor. We decided to go abroad as donors are anonymous there. This means more people donate as they can't be traced when the child is 18 like donors in the UK can. This was also a bit of protection for me. We plan on telling any children where they have come from and how their story began. We felt it's best to be totally honest. You can't hide a secret like that I don't think. We did our first donor cycle in October which resulted in a positive. Unfortunately I had a missed miscarriage at 12 weeks as our little Freddie had Edwards syndrome. I am currently in the 2ww our our 2nd donor cycle and OTD is Thursday! Eek! Good luck to you xx
Hi #Eltel81 How are things going? I had donor egg treatment in Czech Republic in May and currently waiting for 12 week scan 🙂
Bit of background on us TTC 6 1/2 years, history of ovarian tumours (needing major surgery) for me and low motility for his swimmers. First clinic we saw were awful. Went through 2 years of tests, clomid etc before they finally tested my AMH, which was 0.8. So basically less than 1% chance of natural pregnancy as I was already in menopause. Not what you want to hear at 35 years old when all your mates are getting pregnant! So another major surgery and a change of consultant (to a much better, friendlier, more honest private one) and we made the decision to go for IVF donor egg treatment abroad. (Mainly because of my ethnic background and fair skin/hair). No waiting list, clinic were great, all meds and scans sorted with private consultant in UK. We went to Czech in May for 1 week. 9 donor eggs collected and ended up with 3 blastocysts. 1 was transferred and 2 frozen in separate straws.
We are now 11 weeks as 1st round was successful.
Would love to help you if I can, feel free to ask any questions and good luck 🤞
Hi Eltel, we are on the donor journey too and currently have 6 embryos in a clinic in Greece and counting down the days to transfer in Sept. Its been the toughest decision I’ve ever made and still grieve the loss of my own eggs. But I am so excited about our embryos. I wish you lots of luck and if you have any questions or worries please feel free to private message me. Xx
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