Egg Donation

[Leala20]

After being advised IVF is an option but with a lower chances by a private clinic and rejected by NHS as the chances were lower than naturally conceiving we are now considering eggs being donated as the chances of pregnancy are at 50% and NHS funds 3 cycles or there’s a private option. I wonder if anyone has any experience or guidance or maybe could refer to any other threads.

I am currently pregnant with a donor conceived baby, what would you like to know? :)

@Eggcellent29 congratulations!!! I am so looking forward to this and really hope this will work for us. I have so many questions! Maybe the first one is did you do it via nhs or private? Is there a support group you found or anything online or offline that I could start reading about?

@Leala20 Thank you! No problem, ask away!

I have everything crossed that a donor egg turns out to be your path to parenthood, you sound very positive which is great! It has been an incredibly challenging journey for us but worth every minute and now I wouldn’t change it for the world.

We went private due to issues with NHS. Long story short, NHS insisted on arguing between consultants about my treatment due to my age (mid 20s). However, with a pretty pathetic AMH of less than 3 and FSH levels that would make your granny wince, we knew that these arguments and treatments would be pointless and heartbreaking......as well as an estimated 5 year wait for us to be put on the waiting list for an egg!!! Ridiculous. Not that I’m bitter or anything 😂

Support groups were/are a struggle for me tbh. I haven’t found any relevant to my situation (POF in 20s) but there are lots of groups for women who have come to this decision later in life/under different circumstances. However that’s not to say that younger women can’t access them, I just didn’t find them relevant to my situation so I’m not much help here! You could try Donor Conception Network?

I bought a couple of books, Three Makes Baby from Amazon and a collection of essays/personal stories that my hubby bought, when he’s home from work I’ll ask him where he got it!

I was in a similar situation, had 3 NHS cycles but after trying own eggs once the NHS withdrew funding and said it was donor eggs or nothing. I went on to have 2 donor egg cycles on the NHS at a private clinic (failed and miscarriage) and then a private donor cycle which resulted in my now 2 year on

To add my FSH was 23 and AMH 2

Thank you for your advice. My FSh is 13 but aMH just under 1 so deemed too low. I am still keeping positive privately and working on magic quality number 1 egg naturally meanwhile as we go. We have decided we will go for egg donation and this has already made me more relaxed. It’s beautiful and amazing at the same time that it’s so possible and I just hope it goes well and the 50% success rate that’s mentioned will work in our favour positively. I am just apprehensive about NHS due to waiting and the fact that they don’t accept frozen eggs but I need to find someone and arrange they come as this all needs to be synchronised. Going private just takes all the logistics away but it does cost so much more so we are reviewing

Have you contacted your CCG to see if they have contracts with any private clinics with shorter waiting lists you could transfer your funding to?

I did go on to have a natural conception when my donor egg baby was 8 months so it can happen, I only have 1 tube too

@Lauren83 I had my nhs appointment last Wed and was told first I need to do counselling and then find a donor and wait about 3 months. I am still waiting for any email communication from them so I have nothing on past apart from the consultant saying I qualify for 3 and shouldn’t worry. The earliest could be summer and I am worried this is taking a long time. I am inclined to go private but it’s 12K and maybe good to wait to check first round via nhs first. I think I need to wait to get a letter first and attend the counselling session in March first and then will have a better idea.

I hear so many amazing stories despite low AMH and high fsh and I am still hopeful but I am ready to go ahead with a donor and look forward to what happens in between it would be amazing but I am being more realistic now as the results and doctors feedback had really affected me so trying to focus on the more feasible and whilst still trying on my own

@Lauren83 could I ask for advice? Did you use donor database at a private clinic?

I used a fresh donor from the clinic, a lot more have frozen egg banks these days though, if you are looking at buying eggs to ship to a different clinic then it's not common a clinic would accept them. Definitely do speak to your CCG as mine had a contact with the local NHS clinic with a 3 year waiting list and 2 private clinics with no wait list

@lauren83 I am still waiting for any letter or communication from the first nhs appointment I had so I am not sure if I can contact CCG directly? They told me they have a 3 month waiting list but I need my own donor if I don’t have they refer me to 2clinics but I need to pay for the eggs and they need to be fresh so all has to work perfectly in sync between me and the donor and she warned me there’s always the risk of it not. Donor doesn’t have as many eggs as previously thought etc. I am worried I still have no info, have to wait and still it’s a risk of logistics this sounds quite stressful already