Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Donor conception

For anyone with experience of sperm or egg donation to share support and advice. Please remember this board isn’t for debate about donor conception.

How long does it *really* take TTC IUI?

9 replies

Momniscient · 22/07/2019 16:21

Getting mixed messages from various fertility sites/companies, so thought I'd come out of my lurking state and actually post!

The plan is to go through IUI using donor sperm, meanwhile donate my own eggs if there are spare to share. I don't know what my fertility is like as we're a lesbian couple and I've never TTC before. I'm assuming it's fine as I'm still reasonably young, but that's something I'll need to factor in the longer we wait.

So. How long does it actually take from contacting a clinic, finding sperm, matching an egg receiver, to first IUI attempt? Any ballpark figures? I don't want to think "ok we're ready to start now" and find that actually all the admin takes nearly a year.

We're a couple of years off yet (only getting married next Nov), but I just want to be totally prepared. Has anyone been through it? Any advice? Confused

OP posts:
Persipan · 22/07/2019 16:52

You're asking about IUI but at the same time talking about donating 'spare' eggs - in that circumstance would doing IVF as an egg share donor not give you better odds of success?

Momniscient · 22/07/2019 17:04

Woops! Yes, IVF would be the plan. Have been looking at so many sites today I can't get my acronyms straight! Blush

OP posts:
MyDcAreMarvel · 22/07/2019 17:06

Why ivf and no IUI if young with no known fertility issues?

MyDcAreMarvel · 22/07/2019 17:06

*not

Persipan · 22/07/2019 17:23

Haha no worries! I was a bit confused but that makes sense.

So, my experience is as a single woman and then eventually an egg-share recipient, so I don't exactly know the timescales, but roughly speaking, at my clinic:

You'd have an initial consultation.

You'd need to have a bunch of tests to check your fertility and to test for STIs. Some tests/scans need to be done at particular points in your cycle. Say a couple of months for that lot to all be done (could be faster/slower depending on how much you want to hustle everything along).

You'd have to have counselling as a donor sperm recipient, and presumably as an egg donor as well. Not sure whether that has to be separate sessions or not.

Assuming all was well, you'd be matched with a recipient. I honestly wouldn't expect that to take all that long, there's far more people wanting an egg share donor than looking to become one. (I'm pretty sure I was matched with one donor before all her tests had even come back!)

You and your recipient would then need to synch up your cycles, so basically you'd be on the pill for a while. Could be anything from a couple of weeks to over a month, depending on where you are in your respective cycles. (Things could also be slowed down if you or she had any unavoidable scheduling clashes!)

You'd also need to ensure your donor sperm was ready and waiting at the lab. (It's usually recommended to order it a couple of weeks before you need it to be there, but it's a quick process - your clinic will tell you exactly what they need in this respect).

Not sure if all clinics are the same but at mine, they like the recipient's endometrium (womb lining) to be thickening nicely before they start the donor off on stims. Assuming this goes well, you'd then be starting on meds and monitoring scans just as you would with any other IVF cycle. Reckon on roughly a couple of weeks between starting stims and having egg retrieval.

That's the gist of it, anyway. At some clinics they may just do an egg-freezing cycle for the donated eggs, which would cut down on the time spent syncing cycles.

Hope that helps a bit!

Persipan · 22/07/2019 17:24

@MyDcAreMarvel 'social infertility' is a thing.

Persipan · 22/07/2019 17:25

@MyDcAreMarvel oops, sorry, I get what you meant now I see your second post!

Momniscient · 24/07/2019 06:52

Thanks so much for the info, @Persipan! Could I ask if you use the ubiquitous London Women's Clinic or someone else?

@MyDcAreMarvel IVF because of egg sharing - the eggs will be out of me to be inspected ans shares out anyway, and going through IVF (if I've understood the literature) means I could possibly freeze some embryos for future sibling use instead of going through the entire process again.

OP posts:
Angliski · 09/10/2019 17:49

We conceived first try with donor iui but I miscarried. We then tried several more times with no joy. Depending on age the stat is about 10-18% for each try - about the same as natural conception at the respective age. Wish you every success.

New posts on this thread. Refresh page