Donor Eggs

[Rodent01]

Hi all,

In the last week I have discovered my 8 rounds of chemo for breast cancer have left me with no visible follicles and an AMH of 0.6 making IVF impossible.

Donor egg IVF is therefor our only option which I am very ok with as I have a 50:50 chance of passing on BRCA2 mutations so this would eliminate that.

I have a 3 year old dd and giving her a sibling is what got me through treatment and so I'm wanting to go ahead.

Can somebody give me an idea of the drug regime you are put through? This would be frozen eggs that are defrosted, my oh's stuff and implanted.

Thanks, and good luck to everybody wherever you are in your journey!

Well I don't know if everyone is the same but I was put on the pill to get a cycle in line with the donor . I assume if you are using frozen eggs, this won't be an issue and they can maybe work with your cycle.

Anyway, to get my lining up to scratch for transfer, I had oestrogen patches to apply every fourth day. They were increased in number following transfer. I also use progesterone pessaries 3 times a day. 200mg pessaries up to the end of the 2 ww and after pregnancy confirmed, 400mg. That regime continues for approx 12 weeks and then your body takes over the pregnancy.

I was also advised to take steroids (prednisolone) due to thyroid related issues ( I am on thyroxine anyway) and I understand that is not uncommon but not everyone has to. That will also be for approx 12 weeks.

Overall, it is not too bad, although the steroids are making me hungry, fatter and hamster cheeked. The rest is fine though.

The very best of luck if you decide to go ahead! Success rates are high compared with IVF generally I gather. This is my second time (currently 9 weeks) and I have a child from a previous round so it worked for us.

Thanks for taking the time to write - much appreciated.

I think we are going to go with it and just cross everything it works..,....

So good to hear positive Experiences. Good luck on steroids - had them during chemo and the 'roid rage I experienced wasn't fun!!!!!

Hi

I had frozen eggs from a donor. We went privately as NHS funding not available for us on NHS - and as you have a child already it will be the same for you as I'm sure you know. There is a big waiting list in the UK but our clinic offered us the choice to have all the scans and drugs here and the embryo transfer in Spain. In Spain the donors remain anonymous under law.

I was on the pill to sort out my cycle and then in injections for 1 week and drugs to thicken the lining of my womb before transfer In Spain. Then I used progesterone pessaries and kept on with the tablets too. Our first FET was a day 3 and did not work but our second was a day 5 and we now have a beautiful 21 month old little boy. I continued on my drugs till 4 months pregnant and weaned off slowly. I did have 2 massive bleeds at 6 and 8 week which looked like mc but apparently this is more common with IVF. Also you should be aware that using a donor egg increases your chances of Pre Eclampsia. Best of luck x

Hi, we just started our de conception. I'm not sure about frozen embryos. To my mind it's better to use only fresh. Of course, you'll be the one who will make a decision. To my mind, it’s important to remember that frozen donor egg banks are not required by law to report success rate data to the government like fertility clinics are. The technology has not been in use for very long, and data on success is scarce. The national average for live births from embryos using frozen eggs is still lower than that of fresh eggs. That's why our choice was made for fresh donor eggs. And currently we undergo our treatment abroad in europe, ukraine. I'm not sure if you know this country...Btw, if you want to know more I'm open to any of your questions.