Advice on egg sharing and icis or ivf would we be suitable?

[ElmoBumpToBe]

Hello all I'm hoping for some advice and a point in the right direction from you ladies in the know. Bit of background first,

I'm 27 DH is 25 tomorrow. We have been blessed with three children my eldest from a previous relationship and our two together. After a traumatic birth we made the huge mistake of having a vasectomy, 10 months ago we paid for a reversal. We where told at the SA that the results where fantastic in every way, but I noticed that I didn't have some of the figures that I had seen other ladies talking about in the reversal thread that I am part of. So after pushing for more info we where giving the other figures and it turns out DH has 100% sperm antibodies. The surgeoun says that this is not a problem but a lot of research on the Internet says otherwise in fact in seems that fertility specialist say quite the opposite and that natural conception would be impossible. Despite the fact that I know how lucky we already are, this has left me heartbroken and from what I read it seems that if the sperm was washed that icis would be the option for us? Unfortunately after already spending £3000 on the reversal we just don't have the money at all. I had read that with egg sharing you can get a round of treatment for free? Or is it just reduced fee? At first i felt confused on how I felt about egg sharing but then I started to think how I feel with such a longing for another baby and then I thought of the woman who I could help who doesn't have any children and it was like a switch, what an amazing gift it would be.
Who would I contact to find out more and if we might be suitable? We are in West Yorkshire.
I'm sorry if I have rambled on, I really hope somebody replies xx

 

[His Princess]

I'm currently 26 weeks pregnant after our second round of IVF, which was NHS funded, and due to my age (I don't want to have any babies past 35), we're already thinking about trying for number 2. We've looked into sperm donation, as this is something our clinic approached my DH about whilst we were going through treatment. From my understanding, if you donate eggs or sperm, you get one round of treatment free, but you still need to pay for any medications. We're lucky in the sense that we have 4 frozen embies so we could attempt FET. FET cycles aren't medicated like fresh cycles so it would work out a lot cheaper for us. Either way, it'll work out thousands cheaper if you get the treatment free, so it's definitely worth looking into.

Hope that helps! X

 

[ElmoBumpToBe]

Thank you for replying princess and congratulations on your pregnancy!

I just don't really know where to start, are there any threads about or websites with recommended private clinics in different areas of the country? Is there a waiting list do you know or not so much if you are egg sharing? Thank you for replying xx

 

[His Princess]

Take a look here, it's the official HFEA website: https://www.hfea.gov.uk. It'll give you a list of clinics and their success rates for IVF, ICSI, 2dt vs. 5dt etc.

We'll use the same clinic as we did last time as they are one of the best in terms of success rates andi trust the staff. I'd recommend them but it's probably a bit far for you- they're in Cambridge. There isn't a waiting list at the clinic we used by they really vary. We were offered NHS treatment at a clinic in London and they had a year long waiting list x

 

[ElmoBumpToBe]

Thank you appreciate that so much will have a look now xx

 

[His Princess]

Thank you appreciate that so much will have a look now xx

You're welcome. I didn't have ICSI but if you have any questions regarding the IVF process on the whole, just shout x

 

[ElmoBumpToBe]

Just found somewhere in leeds that offers egg donation and Icsi but it shows the success of live birth rates as below average so doesn't seem very good, only gives about a 20% success rate. We have no issues with travelling far and wide for the best treatment but are there many appointments involved? How many visits to the clinic are involved generally as if it's many I don't think DH would have the time of work :-/ x

 

[His Princess]

Just found somewhere in leeds that offers egg donation and Icsi but it shows the success of live birth rates as below average so doesn't seem very good, only gives about a 20% success rate. We have no issues with travelling far and wide for the best treatment but are there many appointments involved? How many visits to the clinic are involved generally as if it's many I don't think DH would have the time of work :-/ x

With my clinic, you have a consultation and once you're agreed on dosages etc., the medication is delivered to you at home. You don't need to go to the clinic during the down reg stage (around 2 weeks), but you will need to go in for a scan after day 6 of stimming injections. After that you have to go for scans every 2/3 days until you're ready for egg collection- I'd estimate around 3-5 appointments over the course of about 7-10 days. You'll then need to go in for your egg collection and embryo transfer. My OH is military so couldn't get time off for all of my appointments. I went to the scan appointments on my own (since they're only measuring your follicles at the point), then he came with me to my collection and transfer appointments. They do collection and transfers at weekends, so it wouldn't necessarily have to be a week day x

 

[ElmoBumpToBe]

Thanks for helping this is great info! So by the sounds of it it will have to be somewhere local or planned well enough so that we can save a weeks holiday for hubby (I don't drive you see though I am starting lessons next month) x

 

[His Princess]

Yep, I think it's definitely better to have somewhere fairly local, due to how often to have to go in, in the last few weeks.

When you looked at the success rates, was it a general rate for the clinic or was it broken out by age etc.? If it's a topline number, it'll include patients of all ages, which will bring the number down quite a lot, since success rates are a lot lower once you get to 37+ x

 

[ElmoBumpToBe]

No that was just the rate for the under 35's so it was quite bad really! I have since looked at the London Woman's clinic who have a clinic in Darlington which is where my mum lives so I could stay there around the time. They are doing the egg sharing at the moment so I need to save around £2000 for all the tests (it could be less but she said you need to budget for certain procedures that the embryologist might say are needed. So hopefully this is something we can seriously look at doing next year! Just have to hope they are still partaking in the egg sharing by then! Thanks again so much for helping me with this xx

 

[His Princess]

I'm sure they'll still be doing the egg sharing scheme, most good clinics do it. Hope it all goes well x

 

[ElmoBumpToBe]

Thank you and all the best to you and baby xx

 

[bevvy82]

Hello all I'm hoping for some advice and a point in the right direction from you ladies in the know. Bit of background first,

I'm 27 DH is 25 tomorrow. We have been blessed with three children my eldest from a previous relationship and our two together. After a traumatic birth we made the huge mistake of having a vasectomy, 10 months ago we paid for a reversal. We where told at the SA that the results where fantastic in every way, but I noticed that I didn't have some of the figures that I had seen other ladies talking about in the reversal thread that I am part of. So after pushing for more info we where giving the other figures and it turns out DH has 100% sperm antibodies. The surgeoun says that this is not a problem but a lot of research on the Internet says otherwise in fact in seems that fertility specialist say quite the opposite and that natural conception would be impossible. Despite the fact that I know how lucky we already are, this has left me heartbroken and from what I read it seems that if the sperm was washed that icis would be the option for us? Unfortunately after already spending £3000 on the reversal we just don't have the money at all. I had read that with egg sharing you can get a round of treatment for free? Or is it just reduced fee? At first i felt confused on how I felt about egg sharing but then I started to think how I feel with such a longing for another baby and then I thought of the woman who I could help who doesn't have any children and it was like a switch, what an amazing gift it would be.
Who would I contact to find out more and if we might be suitable? We are in West Yorkshire.
I'm sorry if I have rambled on, I really hope somebody replies xx

Hi there,

I am doing an egg sharing program. I am just waiting to be matched up with someone.

You will need to find out the nearest clinic to you - you can do this by searching on google or if you let me know the town or city you live in, i can see if i can find out for you.

Each clinic has a slightly different basic criteria for who is suitable for egg sharing but its pretty much as follows;
1. be between 18-35
2. have a BMI of less than 30
3. Non Smoker
4. Not have severe PCOS

The clinic will do the following tests;
1. AMH (Anti Mullerian Hormone test)
You will be required to do this test first and most clinics say the results should be above 16 - this test measures your egg reserves and gives them an idea how many eggs you have left.

2. Sexually transmitted diseases
3. inheritable diseases or genetic conditions
4. HIV, HEP B & HEP C
5. Blood type
(all done by blood tests)

You will also need to have a transvaginal scan and your partner will have to do a sperm test.

Some clinic do the tests for free but a lot charge - you have to pay for the initial consultation. It varies so you will need to check with the clinic.

you will also have a consultation with one of the doctors and also see a counselor who will explain the process and give you all the information you need to make the decision if egg sharing is for you.

The test results can take up to 6 weeks to come back. Once they are all back and if they are ok, the egg sharing coordinator will look at their egg recipient lists and send your profile out to be matched (you will fill out a donor info form with your basic stats and there is a part for you to give info about your education , interests etc (bit like a dating profile lol) - you just have to make sure its non identifying. You will also have the chance to write a letter to any person born from your egg donation (they have the right to find you from the age of 18 - but you will not have any legal responsibility to them).

When you have been matched to someone you will then start suppressing your hormones and matching your cycle up with your recipient - this is done by taking the contraceptive pill. then you start your hormone injections - you will have various scans every couple of days to see how your eggs are developing. Once your ready you will have a trigger injection and then your eggs will be collected 36 hours later - then between 2-5 days your fertilised eggs (if you have any) will be transferred back in.

When you share your eggs, you will need to produce at least 8 eggs - you will then share half with the recipient - if you have less than 8, you can donate all to the recipient and then get a free round of normal IVF next time.

Costs vary from clinic to clinic so you will need to check with the one you go with. Ive ended up paying about £300 so far. The costs are usually less than £1000 though.

Sorry for so much detail but i hope this helps!! If you have any other questions, please let me know xx