Sensitive Post: Question abt Donner Egg genetics, do they do actual tests or just consultations before accepting a donner?

[Bebe294]

Hi everyone,

There is this question on my mind forever regarding donner egg selection process. I hope no one gets upset by reading this, so pls if you deal with an incompetent kid, you may ignore reading the rest.

I am in my mid forties and may have to go for Donner eggs if our lefties on ice do not work.

I know at least couple friends who got pregnant with DE and they are super happy with their kids. One of them has a 6 yr old super cute girl and the other recently gave birth to twin boy and girl ( pre-maturely but both look healthy despite being under weight) and its been only less than 3 month but she loves them very much, to the roof.

So at this point I know it feels like our own real baby when born even during pregnancy but I am afraid and cannot get my mind of potential genetic diseases the baby may come with and wondering if there are tests done on donners or is it only the consultations before they donate.

I may sound crazy , hopefully not cruel, and not sure if I am allowed to think or talk abt this but I am kinda obsessed with having some one else eggs or embryos bcuz one of my close relatives adopted a new born and after few years she got diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and after that they realized she does loosing her hearing gradually and she has hard time in school focusing not really doing well in anything, she keeps forget stuff and recently they found out she has a rare gene that she even may get totally deaf later in life, they dont even know when. This breaks my heart as much as I love this kid but seeing her mom and herself both suffering of all these incompetencies makes me super nervous - indeed that is one of the reasons I didnt want a baby for many years and only in my early forties we started and had to go through ivf . So as much as I know no one may not know what kind of diseases they may get but it is more random with donner eggs or sperms and I know I will not be able to deal with such things and wont be a good mom the kid deserves if things happen.

I dont intent to discourage anyone going this route and I am sorry if I hurt so by talking abt this but process of choosing donner was on my mind for so long and would like to ask those going through the process how you make sure the risks of genetic diseases are little to no existing. Is it by tests or talks only?

I read in some clinic they only do physical and background consultation with donners not heard abt actual exams. Can someone who did go with DE please let me know the actual process.

Appreciate it very much

[Franjohn]

Hi, I have just done a donor egg round and the pre screening for the donor is very rigorous, they also bank they DNA incase there are any genetic issues and we need access to it in the future. The donor will have had endless tests both around mental health and physical health and we were given a full report on the results which as expected are all fine (they wouldn’t be able to go ahead if not) hope this helps! I had my first ever positive result with donor eggs and couldn’t be happier x

[Mary2022 in reply to Franjohn]

I also want to ask one question, will the pre screening for the donor including autism genetics? My friend has a difficult time to look after her autism child and her son is serious level of autism, resulting not able to speak and interact with people.. I want to know it in case I need to go for DE route in future, thanks in advance.🙏

[Bebe294 in reply to Mary2022]

I don’t think so. I read somewhere before that this and ADHD are not anything having identifiable impacts on genes and not detectable by genetic tests, Unfortunately 🫤

I asked my RE abt adhd specifically bcuz my partner has been diagnosed in mid forties despite having high education levels he has difficulty focusing and follow up on tasks and I heard its heridiatery by 30-50 percent.

I was afraid we are going to pass it down to our emryos but there is no way you could figure that out and I came to peace with it anyways bcuz it is not only genes and they say even during pregnancy if mother does not have proper nutritional diet the it might impact baby’s brain.

So unless you have in your family you wouldnt know if your kid is gonna have it but at least you can di your best to take care of your nutrition and overall wellness during pregnancy.

[Mary2022 in reply to Bebe294]

The strongest contributors to risk of autism are from inherited genes. I know there is no genetic test able to check the autism risk on the embryos. I do some research, autism risk can be traced to inherited genes rather than environmental factors and random mutations.

My friend's husband was diagnosed autism. He is high educated and with a professional job, he doesn't like social much and can carry on normal life. He passed the genes to his son. My friend's son was diagnosed serious level of autism when he was 3 years old, he is now 10 years old, still not able to talk, not able to express himself, not able to look at people's eyes or communicate, he likes screaming, jumping...

I know it is too early to worry about it. I will discuss this matter with my clinic if I need to use DE in future.

[Bebe294 in reply to Franjohn]

thank u so much for info. That’s great they do all these tests in UK and I am very happy for you and this pregnancy congratulations and wush you all the best to a safe delivery ❤️

Regarding dna bank, do you mean from baby’s cord or directly from donner? Never heard of the later before

[DianeArnold Partner Nurse Fertility Network UK]

Hi Maryca. I can fully understand your concerns, but in the UK all doners are screened thoroughly. The little girl with problems might have had those anyhow, who knows. Rest assured that anything "nasty" will have been checked out to give you the best chance of success with a healthy little one. All the best with the transfer when it goes ahead, and let's hope you too have the baby you so deserve. Diane

[Bebe294 in reply to DianeArnold]

Thank you very much Diane this is great thank you for your quick response I need this prayer very much all the best to you too 💜