Age or personality?

[Weeseyannabox]

Hi everyone. We got 2 choices of donor from our clinic. 1 is 28 but her profile didn't appeal much at all. The other is 33 but we loved her profile straight away. Not sure what to do. I presume the younger the eggs, the more chance of a greater retrieval and more embryos. Any advice please?

I had treatment in Spain and only know the age and blood group of the donor.
If you're having treatment in a country which allows ID release in the future and have been given further information then go with the donor you prefer. Being 33 is not necessarily a barrier in people with no fertility issues.

@Ukelelesolo Ukelelesolo Thank you. She hasn't donated before so no extra info unfortunately.

If you are drawn to the profile I would probably go for that one anyway, if it doesn't work with the younger one you may find it harder having gone against your gut.
I'm kind of glad I didn't have a choice.

I have friends who had IVF in their 30s and got lots of blastocysts, others who got hardly any. And people who got pregnant on first round and people who had many rounds.

From our donor we had 5 blastocysts resulting in one pregnancy which fortunately was successful.

@Ukelelesolo Again thank you. Can I ask what age yours was?

My donor was 28.
I guess when the clinics are selecting donors, the first round is as much a trial as when anyone else is doing IVF.

I don't know what info you have that makes you prefer one donor over another but I will say that I thought about the process a great deal (not in terms of choosing a donor as the clinic did that, but in terms of would it all work out okay). If there is an element of choice for you and you have a feeling why not go with it? Clinics want to succeed too (not as much as we do!) as it's good for their statistics.

I had a donor of 32 that wasn’t successful. I didn’t like the age though (I knew it, I chose it).
Then I had a donor of 32 with another clinic which was successful on the 2nd transfer (she was a proven donor as well). The second clinic didn’t reveal donor’s age until I got pregnant, as it was their policy.

I’d go for the one you are drawn to 100%. I had my youngest via IVF when I was 33 and she was a grade A embryo. We are lucky enough to have 6 others in the freezer too. I know you want to maximise your chances - but they’ll have tested the donors if not already collected the eggs.

@Btowngirl Thank you.

From a slightly different perspective, but my (sperm) donor baby is now here and I'm so glad we went with a donor whose profile we loved. I think it's really important to feel comfortable in your decision.

If you don't love the profile, then as character traits come through in your child in the future, you may find yourself questioning if it's because you chose that donor. That's not a comfortable thing to live with.

If the 33 yr old has been selected as an egg donor and gone through that process, presumably she will be fit and healthy and have good eggs. 33 is not old. I would give it a go with her and consider switching if not successful.

@wrinklycactus Thanks a million. We went with the 33-year old in the end.