So we are looking into egg donation after 3 failed cycles using my eggs. I’m 37 with a low amh so on each EC they only collect 2 eggs and our last collection didn’t even fertilise which was devastating. We are now thinking of egg donation but just don’t know where to start! Should we look at egg donation programmes in the uk or abroad? Are the waiting times different? Are the costs different? Does anyone recommend a particular clinic? Everyone is so knowledgeable on here I would appreciate any advice you could offer!
Thank you 💕
Written by
Babymagic37
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
I’m currently 15 weeks + 3 with an egg donated egg from my youngest sister, using my husbands sperm.
Firstly I’m sorry to see your last round didn’t fertilise - are you sure this is just down to the quality of your eggs? Has your partner been fully checked meaning not just normal sperm analysis but dna fragmentation tested? There was a post here recently where us was discussed that it’s the female they focus on, we do several rounds and they they think to check the male part
If all that’s been done then great!!
Egg donation waiting list at the clinic I use in London is 6 months to a year waiting list. With egg donation in the U.K. the child has the right at the age of 18 to trace its biological donor should it wish to - there will be no anonymous donors in the U.K. if you go to a clinic abroad it is anonymous donation in most places.
For our cycle with a known donor we paid £13,000 - £1500 of that was to check my sister was a suitable donor through genetic testing and all the normal bloods we do if you do a normal cycle. You need to pay for all the donors treatment and pay for your medication separately (hence why the cost is higher) the donor can also claim upto £750 in expenses from you.
In the U.K. the HFEA state you need counselling sessions - not sure how that works with someone you don’t know but we had to have 3 sessions, myself and my husband. My sister in her own then we should have had a group one, but it was just myself and my sister due to Covid rules at the time.
After that’s completed you can start as long as you have a donor, if not you wait until one is found matching your requirements.
Thank you for this, really helpful. I hadn’t even considered the tracing of the donor by the child. Would you be able to DM me the clinic you used please?
Hello, I am sorry to hear your round didn’t fertilise. I was in a similar situation but this shouldn’t define your steps. Many people try a few times more and some succeed in the end. We wanted to stop the heartache, no one was giving us hope ivf wise and naturally worked for us only once that I was fully aware of and ended up in miscarriage but knowing what I know now I may have had many early chemicals I didn’t realise. The desire to have a baby was greater and the more I started reading about egg donation the more beautiful I found it. It was shock at first but then turned into a stronger belief that I have chances of being a mum, and believed this was our route to bring parents. We used London Egg Bank as it was the most accessible and I couldn’t deal with lockdown and 6 month wait for a donor in other places. I did a lot of research, listened to any podcast I could find and spent hours with LWC and London Egg Bank on the phone and felt after being with other fertility clinics this was a safe place that really cared. Frozen eggs are already mature ones and thaw rate is very high and nowadays they have a very similar success rate to fresh. I would recommend checking out blog and Instagram called Defining Mum, a book or a podcast 3 makes a child and joining the DCN network when you’re ready there’s a lot of support there and materials to help you. Doing a counselling session is obligatory before starting the process and even though we were 100 percent ready and felt we didn’t need it, we found it extremely useful. All the best in whatever decision you take.
Thank you Snuggling this is so helpful too. I’ll look into what you’ve suggested. It’s so reassuring to know other people have been through what we’re going through. I feel so alone with all this at times.
Hi Babymagic37, I am currently 29week pregnant with donor egg. My waiting time at the time (2019) was around 3month. As I was funding it privately, had to wait a year to start and arrange all my finances and travel schedule and paid around £10.000 excluding medication (other than the initial one month package £2,980) I bought all of the medication I needed until I was 12week pregs, abroad in the EU and paid around €500,00. Not sure how the waiting list may have changed due to the pandemic. The clinic I went to had their own “egg bank”, so was easier for me to stick with them; but obviously you can choose our own donor bank as long as your clinic is listed as receiver. Just make sure to ask your clinic with which bank they work with and they should be able to give you a list of egg donor banks. I wish you all the best for you journey ahead 🤞🤞🤞
Hi hun! Totally worth going abroad for egg donation, there are no waiting lists everywhere you decide to go….greece, spain, Russia….I’m 32 weeks pregnant following one round of egg donor (I’m 41 next month)….costs are much lower than in England and personally I’ve found such a better patient care too! Happy to give you my clinics details privately if you wish contact me! (We can’t share them here as it’s seen as advertising) xx
Hi ToughCOOKIE78 yes please let me know the clinic you used! I’ve found the patient care at the 3 clinics we’ve used here to vary from poor to shocking which hasn’t helped our journey. Congratulations!! so lovely knowing this process can work! It gives me hope!
I worked with a clinic in the Czech Republic. Minimal wait time for donor, 2 weeks I think. Around 4,000 euros all in. Amazing service, strict anonymity and you get to choose the basic traits (hair/eye color, height/weight, blood type, education, age range). Especially if you are looking for a light skin, blond donor. This is the place to go.
I had donor egg IVF at a clinic in Alicante, Spain. I dealt with them direct as going through a UK clinic boosts the price. You need to find a clinic in the UK to do your scans but most pregnancy scanning clinics will do them. They were great and we have a four year old now. PM me if you want the name of the clinic.
Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.
Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.
40 y.o. need to make decision another IUI over IVF, very low reserve, mentally at edge
Day 3 Double Transfer - any advice? 
NHS IVF after success
*Sensitive Post* Birth Announcement
