Advice about donor profile

[Biscuits88]

Hello

This is my first time at ivf with a donor and we are using a clinic in Northern Cyprus. They have sent a few donor profiles, which just list six things: eye colour, age, hair colour, skin, their country of birth and success rate.

on asking the clinic for some background info such as hobbies, interests, etc they said they cannot give this.

I really feel like we are going into this completely blind and starting to have second thoughts.

I honestly thought that there would be a little bit about the donor, so although we aren’t able to see a picture, we could have some idea of them.

We have to completely rely on the honesty and the trust of the six bits of info we have been given by the clinic.

is this normal? Do all Cypriot/Turkish clinics run the same way?

Thanks for any advice any one can help me with.

[Gempuddleduck]

Hiya, we used a Cypriot clinic and were given family medical history and hobbies and interests. Happy to chat if you want to PM

[Biscuits88 in reply to Gempuddleduck]

Wow! I would love that! Can you name clinics in this chat? The clinic we are going with is linked to the fertility clinic we are using in the UK, so I wouldn’t know how to change.

[JA-fnuk Partner Nurse Fertility Network UK]

If mentioning clinics by name please use PM

Thank you

Janet-Partner

[CyclingAddict]

We spent a lot of time looking into the donor route and getting advice. For me, it was important to have as much information as possible. I would've wanted someone as similar to my husband as can be. I also wanted to know the donor's family's medical history as this will be important for the child as they grow up (how many times do we get asked by doctors whether something runs in our family). I always felt a little uneasy about anonymous donors as more recent research has shown that it can negatively impact on the child - they may not want to meet the donor, but knowing a bit about them has been shown to help them accept it. I know if I was conceived using donor egg/sperm I'd still want to have some information about the donor to understand them a bit more. It's not an easy decision by any means! X

[Boo718]

we had eye colour, origin, blood type and hair colour xxx

[Biscuits88 in reply to Boo718]

How did it work out? I suppose it is a matter of just putting your trust whole heartedly in them. x

[Boo718 in reply to Biscuits88]

Honestly she is awesome. Everyone says she looks like my niece and mother in law. Her appearance, height, build everything is honestly so much like us it’s crazy. Even down to the short legs long back. The clinic did an amazing job xxx

[Babylove35]

Hi Biscuit

Do you have the option to search for our own donor? We used a bank and the profiles were extensive! We had every detail. Send me a PM if you want to chat

[Forevertrying2]

Hi there, my donor is through UK treatment and I had lots of information about hobbies, background and life. Plus all the physical characteristics, I ended with a donor (not successful yet but one frozen embryo left) with different physical characteristics as me. I was really hung up about physical characteristics and was waiting a long time. In the end when I read my last donor profile I cried and realised one thing all these donors had in common. They are beautiful people who just want to help. That’s one personality trait you know your donor has x

[Sja1981 in reply to Forevertrying2]

Yes that's how I feel. I'm with a clinic in Spain who selects fully anonymous sperm that matches your physical appearance, and for me, Im fine with simply knowing that they've done an incredible thing helping women to get pregnant.

My Spanish friend has had two of her eggs used and also feels so happy that her eggs have been used to support motherhood in another, though she knew it wasnt for her.

The only other request I made that the clinic is accommodating is that I want sperm for an unvaccinated donor. x

[Biscuits88 in reply to Forevertrying2]

So true. 😍

[Twiglet2]

the physical characteristics are of of course important consideration but having medical history might be a good idea for your child in the future. We used European sperm bank which has extensive characteristics but also the donors medical history and that of 2 generations before them and all siblings. We’ve already used it twice to rule things in or out with consultant with our little one is only 3! Just one to consider. Ps we chose a brown haired green eyed donor and I have dark hair and hazel eyes and our boy is blonde haired and blue eyed so even with all that info on donor they come out how they want sometimes 🤣 he looks exactly like my little brother did at his age though so siblings info too is a good thing I think xx

[IVFat40]

Cryos International bank offer a lot of information including family history, interests, a letter from the donor, baby pictures and sometimes adult pictures too. My son will also be able to get identifying information about the donor when he's 18, which for me felt incredibly important, as it's so hard to predict how my son will feel and what he'll want in the future.

[Lata7384]

Hey Love,

I did my ivf in North Cyprus , using donor eggs. Our clinic sent us a form to complete so that they could match the closest donor. We had to give our pictures plus details of ourselves: hair colour, skin colour, height etc. They also asked us our expectations from the donor: her education qualification, her hobbies etc.

[Biscuits88 in reply to Lata7384]

Yes that’s the same for me too.