[Ladybuglee]

I apologize for all these questions!

Has anyone used a shared donor program, where you and another person/couple share one donor's eggs? If so, would you mind sharing your thoughts and experiences about it?

Thank you!

[AMA]

My best friend told me she used a shared donor six years ago. It saved them several thousand dollars and she has twins (boy and girl) - the lights of her and D/H lives. She would highly recommend it. It wasn't an option for us.

[LGB]

There are a couple of girls on here that I know did a shared cycle/are in the middle of a shared cycle, and I am getting ready to do one.

I had not considered them before bc I thought it would lessen our success rate/chance, however we found a clinic whose success rates are the same for both singles and splits, so that reassured me a lot. We also wanted to do shared risk however we could not justify the single cycle shared risk cost (42-54K) but are comfortable with the shared risk split cycle cost.

My DE coord/RE also that they pick the "best" donors to do splits, considering they will be splitting the eggs. They also split the eggs twice to make sure each recipient receives the same qualities of eggs.

I've also heard of 3 ways splits and know someone on the IVFC website who just had a positive beta.

I believe that if your RE doesn't think a split will compromise your rate for success, it's a more affordable option which could also allow you more than one cycle if necessary.

[natalie28]

Hi Liza,
I did a split cycle. We did a 2/3 to 1/3 split so that we paid 2/3 of the cost and they paid 1/3. We got the first 10 mature eggs and then 2/3 of what was left and they got the 1/3 of what was left.
We were not originally going to do a split, but we got a great donor and she was proven (great success last time) and they had a couple who didn't care about how much the donor looked like them, they just wanted a healthy baby.
It worked out well for us, we paid all of my costs and they paid all of theirs and the clinic was able to supply the donor with meds they had on hand so we didn't spend anything on meds, just her retrieval and the meds for that.
We got 14 eggs and 8 fertilized. Out of that 8, we ended up with only 4. We put 2 in (one made it) and we have 2 frozen.
I hope this helps!
Good luck!

[tko6666]

I too am interested in a sharred donor program. They seem hard to find. Do you mind telling me which clinics you've used, or heard that will do a split donor program? We are willing to travel if needed. Thanks.

[J-LYN]

i am on IVF hold right now due to our finances, but after three failed IVF's and no embies making to transfer we are considering all our options. I asked my Drs if they do shared cycles, they said yes, but has to be a very proven donor... 30+ eggs... OMG! I told the IVF coordinator to keep me in mind if anyone 'looking like me" LOl wants to do a shared cycle. my other top options is to go overseas for 12k and not share a cycle.

Hugs and blessings ladies!

Janet

[LGB]

Hi Terri and Janet~I am gearing up for a DE split cycle and several girls on the Donor Egg thread have done/are doing them. What's great about a DE IVF versus IVF with your own eggs is that you only have to get one or two lining checks and bloodwork levels taken and then need to be there the day of ER and ET. So for us that meant that we can do those one or two checks locally (OOT monitoring) and then travel and only be gone 5 or so days for the actual ER and ET. So instead of doing our cycle locally with the clinic we've done our IUIs and IVFs with, we are actually traveling out of state and switching clinics, bc the costs are literally half!

How I got started was to ask around on here and on the IVF Connections website and get some recs. and then call and speak directly to DE Coordinators and get the feeling for their specific programs. They all run them very differently and I narrowed down my list by getting specifics from the DE coordinators who were very willing to give me a lot of info over the phone.

Some key points for us were: price, wait time, success rates, shared risk plans, and the RE's overall dedication to DE IVF, which is a completely different ballgame than regular IVF-we wanted someone who didn't just look at it as a side business but part of their core/overall treatment options.

If you are looking to do a shared risk plan, Integramed's website lists all participating REs and you call each one.

The IVF Connections website has a VERY active Donor Egg thread where I learned about a ton of clinics and virtually everything I know about DE!

Feel free to PM me!
~LGB

[shannobananno]

I just did a shared donor egg cycle through Cooper Institute in NJ. I was the donor. It worked for the recipient and I'm happy for them but it didn't work for me. I'm going to try one more time before looking into donor sperm. I produced lots of eggs which fertilized nicely (we shared them equally) but the recipient's eggs turned into high quality embryos while mine, like last time, turned into poor quality embryos which is a result of poor-quality sperm. Everything is anonymous; I don't know their name and they don't know mine. Its great for both of us because I don't have enough money for IVF and they don't have enough for a traditional donor egg program.

[jjc]

Originally Posted by J-LYN

i am on IVF hold right now due to our finances, but after three failed IVF's and no embies making to transfer we are considering all our options. I asked my Drs if they do shared cycles, they said yes, but has to be a very proven donor... 30+ eggs... OMG! I told the IVF coordinator to keep me in mind if anyone 'looking like me" LOl wants to do a shared cycle. my other top options is to go overseas for 12k and not share a cycle.

Hugs and blessings ladies!

Janet

I don't know how much your prior IVFs were but the RE I go to charges $12,000 including meds and is in the US/Florida. He was great and I am preggo 1st time.

[jjc]

I guess I spoke to soon. I went through regular IVF with my own eggs. Although my RE seems to be cheaper than most. I was checking this thread because I wish I knew about the shared cycle before I started. That would have been something I would have considered and I made plenty of eggs. Still call around. I know my RE also asks for donated eggs and embryos so there has to be better options here. I went to the FIRM in Jacksonville.

[BabySteps]

humm this is interesting I did not know such a thing existed when I did it. I am not sure if I would have risked it though. My donor produced 25 eggs and only 3 made it to the blasts stage. They were good ones though (and still are)

If I were to do this again....I might consider doing a shared donor. If anyone knows what the costs would be roughly...I would be interested in finding out. You can pm me. Thanks!

[LGB]

Originally Posted by BabySteps

humm this is interesting I did not know such a thing existed when I did it. I am not sure if I would have risked it though. My donor produced 25 eggs and only 3 made it to the blasts stage. They were good ones though (and still are)

If I were to do this again....I might consider doing a shared donor. If anyone knows what the costs would be roughly...I would be interested in finding out. You can pm me. Thanks!

Hi Babysteps! I am about to do a split DE cycle, I will PM you with the pricing I received.

[karz]

I just completed a split cycle @ GCRM. My donor was wonderful, I received 29 eggs, xfrd 2 and 14 made it and were frozen as blasts. I will know Monday if the first two implanted. I don't regret doing a split cycle.

[Ladybuglee]

wow kim that's amazing! your donor was super egg woman!

our clinic doesn't offer the shared donors, but we probably wouldn't do it anyway, just b/c we're so used to bad news (i know how pessimistic that sounds!) that we would totally stress about not having enough.

[tbonus]

ART Fertility Program of Alabama
My clinic does a split cycle as well it runs roughly 13500.