Clinics in Europe with non-anonymous egg donation; recommendations?

[Weeseyannabox]

Hi. Just wondering if anyone has any advice - my husband and I have been advised to try IVF with our own eggs before trying donor eggs. If we have to go to donor eggs, we'd both like non-anonymous options, which narrows our choices to UK, Scandinavia and Portugal. Ideally I'd like to stay with the same clinic for own and donor eggs (obviously if I like the clinic!) - does anyone know any clinics in any of those locations with a very good reputation? I had a shortlist of excellent clinics in Europe before we discussed and realised we don't want the egg donation to be anonymous, so I'm a bit disappointed that our choices are more limited now to less well-known clinics. Thanks in advance.

I'm afraid I can't recommend anywhere from personal experience, but I was in a similar position to you. I'd had two rounds of IVF with my own eggs fail and wanted to change clinics for one final go with my own eggs before switching to donor. I was actually very happy with my original clinic in Spain but wanted a fresh pair of eyes and just to try in a different setting after the first two goes were so dispiriting. Also, knowing I would be going to donor egg if the next round failed, I wanted somewhere where I could do that non anonymously, as that's very important to me. I was originally looking at Portugal but then discovered that Greece is a destination that is highly regarded by a lot of people. They give the option of anonymous or non anonymous donation, which I liked as the donor has then freely chosen not to be anonymous, rather than just agreeing to it because it's the law. Some clinics I was looking at included Serum in Athens and Newlife and Embryolab in Thessaloniki. Its also a lot cheaper there than a lot of other countries.

In my case, the month after our second round failed and just as we were doing research into Greek clinics, I got pregnant naturally! Early scans at 6 and 9 weeks showed a heartbeat and that the bubba is growing at the correct rate, but I'm now anxiously awaiting the 12 week scan next week, and the results of all the testing. But if sadly this pregnancy doesn't work out, or if it does but we then want number 2 (by which time I'll be too old to use my own eggs) then I'll definitely be looking at Greece.

Good luck and I really hope it all works out for you, however it happens!

KoraliaValentine 1) Thanks a million for your reply. 2) Congratulations! That's great news. Hope it all goes well for you. Let us know how you get on (if you feel like it). 3) That is actually brilliant. Thanks a million. Greece was on the shortlist but most websites don't mention it as a country where you can do non-anonymous. I really appreciate that, and it helps a lot. Best of luck with everything.

By the way, do you mind me asking roughly what age group you're in? I'm curious as to what, "Too old," is considered for your own eggs....because to be honest, I was surprised when the fertility consultant suggested I try with my own. I'm 44.

You're welcome! The law in Greece was changed in 2022 to allow non anonymous donation, and I think a lot of websites haven't updated their info accordingly. One of the clinics (I think it was Newlife) was running webinars specifically on the topic, so it might be worth contacting them for some general information.

I'm 42, and will be 43 when (please god!) this baby is born. So if we decide to try for a second I will be at least 44 when we start. I personally wouldn't be prepared to do IVF with my own eggs at 44 (I was skeptical about the idea at 42, but got talked into it!) though I'd probably try naturally for a while before going to IVF, as donor eggs mean you're in less of a hurry.

I'm surprised that the consultant suggested trying with your own eggs at 44, though of course there are women that have success that way, as well as those that conceive naturally at that age. But in statistical terms, I'm surprised they recommended it. Did they explain why? (AMH, AFC etc?)

Hi, just wanted to say that last year in May when we enquired about non-anonymous egg donation with Newlife in Greece, they said they were unable to provide any non- anonymous donors. Even though the law now allows it, the take up is apparently very low. Hopefully things have changed/will change gradually. Good luck 🍀

Serendipity24 Oh that's a pity. I was delighted when I saw their name come up. Thanks for warning me.

@Weeseyannabox We have gone with the London Egg Bank in the UK, where all donors are non-anonymous, and it's all regulated by the HFEA which was reassuring. They've been great so far although sadly my first embryo transfer just failed - but we have 5 more excellent grades in the freezer!

I am also 44 - we tried for the year prior to this with my one eggs in the Czech Republic and did PGT testing - had a fair number of embryos to test, but all of them came back aneuploid. Have you had bloods done to test AMH etc? If you do decide to try with your own eggs, then the European clinics are much cheaper than the UK, even with travel and accommodation included.

@loulamay Thanks for that. To be honest my gut instinct says to try donor eggs, but I do trust this specialist I'm seeing, so I'll give it one go with my own.

Best of luck!