Experience of Manchester clinics (Care or Manchester Fertility) for DE cycle

[Apple04]

Hi everyone. Newish to mumsnet (haven’t posted in years!). I’ve been speaking to both Manchester Fertility and Care. Care seem to want us to provide an US scan and semen analysis before we have a consultation which is off putting as both are still difficult for us to arrange locally. We have a consultation booked with Manchester Fertility. Does anyone have any experience of these clinics? Do they have large donor egg banks to choose from? I’m finding it hard to gauge what information we get and the success rates. The packages they offer are very different as well. Any advice would be appreciated!

@Apple04
Hi, I have just started the DE process with Manchester Fertility and my early experiences are very positive. The DE coordinator is lovely and very good at communicating information which is a different experience to the one I had at a London clinic whilst doing OE IVF.
I didn’t warm to the consultant and she seemed to be going through the motions so that part was quite a de-personalised experience but I won’t have much to do with the consultant so I didn’t really mind that. The counsellor was absolutely lovely (Gabriella) and I would highly recommend her.
Only early experience to share & haven’t actually been to the clinic yet as I’m based in London, but so far so good.
Hope that helps x

@PositiveThinkerAlways I meant to get back to you to say thank you for your response. Your response gave me more confidence about sticking with Manchester fertility. We’ve now had a consultation and are waiting for counselling. So you are a little bit ahead! Have you been offered donors yet? I’m still unsure how that process works, I’m a bit nervous about this and the selection of donors as you can’t see the selection of donors until later in the process.

@Apple04 Yes it seems that I may be a bit ahead in the process but it’s taken me ages to have the pre-tests done as some of these I have had to request from my previous IVF clinic (which took ages!) and a couple I have had done in London as that’s where I live.
I haven’t got to the stage of choosing a donor yet but I feel reassured that I won’t have to pay any money until I have chosen a suitable donor. Some clinics ask for the money in advance.
I am happy to update you and share information once I get to that stage - fingers crossed I get there soon 🤞

Hi both. I am just wondering if either of you are any further along now in your journey? I have had a failed ICSI treatment recently and my consultant has just discussed thinking about donor eggs. I was reading about Manchester fertility for donor eggs online and just wondering what sort of wait times you have experienced?

@Donimo I didn’t go to Manchester but I do have a child from donor eggs and happy to chat.

Hi @Donimo
I’ve gone through all the initial tests etc and waiting to be matched now. I was told that it would take at least a few months due to covid delaying treatments etc there. I was told back in January I would be matched very quickly as I will be using frozen eggs but have now been told there is a wait. Hope that helps.

Thank you @PositiveThinkerAlways for your reply. Just to clarify was it January when you first had all your tests done. Or did this start quite awhile before then? I hope they find a suitable match for you and it all works for you.

@Angliski thank you, and congratulations on your child. Do you have any clinic recommendations? I actually live in the west Midlands so can travel fairly easily. But think I want to go ahead (if we do) with a UK donor rather than look abroad. Also what was the process for it all? I'm feeling a little overwhelmed with how to look into it all.

Hi @Donimo. I used frozen eggs in Prague. I think fresh is unnecessary, more expensive, less predictable and has a slightly lower success rate. I’m not sure why clinics advocate for it, apart from making more money from it. Is a donor is donating, her eggs can be frozen after the process or they can be immediately fertilised and then the resulting embryos can be frozen.

The process for DE is a lot simpler than ivf with your own eggs. Basically your fresh or frozen eggs are combined with your soerm - donor or partner. They then wait for blastos to form. We chose to have this done and then wait a few months for a transfer- this meant we knew how many embryos we had to work with and could take some time to prepare for the next stage. But I think most people have one transferred straight off. The meds you take start on day 1 of your cycle and are to suppress your own cycle and prep your lining. Then the embryo is dropped in sometime between day 17-21.

Then you wait, same as everyone else! You usually also take meds up till week 12. This is to support the forming of the placenta and stimulate the right activity- if you drop an embryo in rather than make one inside yourself, the hormone triggers don’t always go off as they would, hence the meds.

@Donimo If you have had recent own egg ivf the clinic will accept all of your tests from your previous clinic (which will save you approx £1k). You could request your health records from your previous clinic now as this takes a few weeks anyway.
I waited around 3 weeks for a consultation & counselling appointment (£220) so that was pretty quick then 2 weeks to sign consent forms before being on the list to be matched. You will also need a CMG-IV blood test which you can have at the clinic or pay privately for somewhere local if you don’t live near the clinic (£75).
If you are worried about timings then I would definitely ask for your previous records now (free of charge) and ring the clinic as the donor coordinators are fab and will happily talk you through the process with no commitment.
As you should have recent test results from your previous clinic the time before the matching stage should be quite quick.
I’m happy to answer any other questions. Another lady on here at Manchester clinic answered lots of my questions a few months ago which were very helpful to me so I know what it’s like to be in your position.

Thank you for your help. I have sent a few enquiries off to a few different clinics and waiting for them to get back to me. I was going to ask about- costs, approx waiting times, how they source their donors, any additional tests we might need and discuss the tests we have already had. Any other questions it would be worth me asking to make a decision on the best clinic to go with?

Hi everyone, I am hoping to start the DE process with Manchester Fertility. Just wanted to see what stage u guys are at now, and how have u found them? They told me on the phone due to delays the process is taking around 6months x

@elizaham I would recommend Manchester fertility based on much experience so far and the donor coordinator has been brilliant. However I wish they had let me know there was a significant wait due to covid back in Dec when I made my initial enquires as I probably would have gone somewhere else with shorter waiting times.
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