[kirstyloo]

My husband and I looked at our clinic’s donor list, and we were very surprised at how short it was. There were only 3 donors available before December. Because of their genetic background (carrier status & family history), only one would have worked. We were both crushed. We wished that we could have known this earlier so that we could have explored other options earlier. We’re now reassessing our strategy and considering our options.

With that in mind, I thought that it would nice if we could create a repository where people could communicate how they found their donor and how it went. It might help some of the newbies not be surprised like we were. One way to do it could be to have people address the following points. Please don’t include the names of agencies or clinics as I think that is against this site’s rules.

If you used an agency
-Does your RE offer donors through his/her clinic?
-How many donors were you asked to select?
-How long did it take between selecting your donor(s) and knowing if you matched?
-How long did it take between selecting your donor and the transfer?
-Did you use a donor that needed to travel? If so, did it change/complicate the process and if so how?
-Was there anything that surprised you about the process?

If you used your RE office
-Approximately how many donors are available through your clinic?
-Approximately how many DE IVFs does the clinic do a year?
-How long did it take between selecting your donor(s) and knowing if you matched?
-How long did it take between selecting your donor and the transfer?
-Was there anything that surprised you about the process?

If you used a donor from another source
-How did your find your donor?
-How did you address the legal issues surrounding DE?
-Was it a comfortable situation?
-Was there anything that surprised you about the process?

[Sanda]

If you used an agency
-Does your RE offer donors through his/her clinic? Yes, but only had 1 asian donor. outside agencies had more of a selection to choose from.
-How many donors were you asked to select? I could ask for the profiles of as many donors as I wanted.
-How long did it take between selecting your donor(s) and knowing if you matched? 1 week; there were other women ahead of me on the list that had to be offered this donor first. The agency I used had a waiting list for asian donors.
-How long did it take between selecting your donor and the transfer? 2 1/2months; donor had to have tests done and then we had to sync our cycles together. I also think it took a little longer because our donor had a leftover cyst from her previous donor cycle.
-Did you use a donor that needed to travel? If so, did it change/complicate the process and if so how? No
Was there anything that surprised you about the process? It was very stressful waiting for the cyst to go away, so start dates were delayed.

[Cheri]

and good luck finding your donor!!


If you used your RE office
-Approximately how many donors are available through your clinic?
15-20
-Approximately how many DE IVFs does the clinic do a year?
I don't know..
-How long did it take between selecting your donor(s) and knowing if you matched?
There wasn't a question about if we matched. All we had to wait for was the donor to be contacted and agree to do a cycle during the dates we requested.
-How long did it take between selecting your donor and the transfer?
3 months, 3 weeks was spent waiting for all of her genetic testing to come back.
-Was there anything that surprised you about the process?
My 1st donor got pregnant, but the clinic has instated new requirements that all donors POAS everytime they walk in the office....