[shanna0618]

After being diagnosed with DOR in April, we have been thinking a lot about egg donors. If we do decide to go this route, it probably won't be until next year sometime. I have a few questions if some of you could answer.

What were your success rates? Did it happen for you first time around?

Did you use someone that you knew or did you go with someone that you didn't? My cousin, whom I am very close with, as offered to donate for me. She has 3 beautiful children of her own and actually brought up this topic to me. However, she lives in another state and I am not sure how that would work.

What was your round about cost for the egg donation, if you could share. I did receive a price from a previous RE and it was about 20k.

I have read that people have done "mock" trials to see how their body would repond to the meds for preparing for transfer. I seem to have a problem with my lining as it only got up to 6mm after injections. Have any of you had this done?

I haven't really discussed this option with my RE yet. After 2 failed IUI she has put me on BC pills to see if that helps with follicle stimulation after I come off. We will try another 2 months afterwards before considering the donor egg option. I am afraid to try IVF. Even though I am only 29, I think that the DOR has not only diminished the quantity but also the quality of my eggs.

Thanks in advance for any feedback you can give me.

[malloned10]

Shanna,

First and foremost, sorry about your recent diagnosis of DOR. I was diagnosed when I was 34 and it is certainly a bitter pill to swallow. On a good note, it sounds as though your RE hasn't completely counted out using your eggs yet which is great news!

I am currently 19 weeks pregnant from a DE cycle so I will do my best to answer your questions.

1.) The success rate at my clinic was about 65%. Yes, first time around we transferred one blastocyst and got pregnant.

2.) We used an anonymous donor from the donor pool at my RE's office.

3.) Our insurance provided coverage for a DE cycle, so out of pocket it was about $10,000.00. Without coverage it would have been between $25,000.00 - $30,000.00. Some clinics offer shared donor cycles and it really helps with the cost. You may want to look into that if you go the DE route.

4.) Yes, I was required to complete a mock cycle before my actual cycle. I think most REs do but I have read where some don't.

I hope this helps! Good luck to you on whichever road you may go down!

[shanna0618]

Thanks for the response. It seems as though it is hard to get any kind of responses on this entire forum, not just DE category, so I do appreciate the info.

[Francesca13]

Hi Shanna,

After chatting with you this past week, my doctor called yesterday and requested I have the AMH test done. I went in this morning and had blood drawn, and am now waiting for the results. I have a very, very bad feeling about this and am pretty sure that it's going to explain the reason I had such a terrible cycle on injectables.

Trying to prepare myself for the worst and accustom myself to the idea of trying donor eggs. Thankfully, I have the world's most amazing sister who is 26, my best friend, and has somehow managed to avoid all the horrible genetic defects that I ended up with. She is super excited about the possibility of donating, and my husband and I couldn't be happier....which at least leaves me feeling like I have a "plan B."

I just want to get started on all of this!! I'm sick of not being preggers!!

Anyway, best wishes to you as you research this decision. I hope you find peace in your heart during this whole process and end up with a baby in your arms, no matter how he or she finds you!!

[shanna0618]

I am glad that you are getting the test done. I was so glad that the nurse mentioned it to me. I felt like if there is something out there that can give me an idea of what I am working with than why not get it!

I surely hope your level comes out high and you are not faced with DOR. It took about 2 weeks for me to get the results. I was not prepared for the news that I got whatsoever.

That is great that you have people that are willing to donate for you....hopefully, it won't come to that. Please keep me updated on how the cycle is going for you! I look forward to your updates. My fingers are crossed for you!!!!!

[Rachel38]

I had no Ovarian Production issues until I turned 38. I was shocked and very upset. On Clomid when I was 36 I made 5 eggs! On my first attempt with stims and IUI, I made ten eggs. A year later during IVF it dropped to 2. Now I make 4-5 follies and they only turn to one dominant egg. They refuse to do IVF due to one egg and age. I understand how you feel, but be thankful you are younger and can evaluate your options and take more time. We are just beginning a cycle this month so i can not tell you if it works or not yet for us although I will try to help with your questions.

What were your success rates? Did it happen for you first time around? The success rates at our new clinic are 60-70%

Did you use someone that you knew or did you go with someone that you didn't? We were going to use one of our closest friends who is beautiful, amazing and who has a child we adore. She sat us down and offered and we were so happy and amazed that someone could be that generous. The closer it got to making the decision, we could tell her offer to help may have been pre-mature. She got weird and started to act indecisive. We pulled the plug "then and there" and decided that there was no way we could use someone we know. We felt it could come back to hurt us at some point. Just too unsure. We are in a program and are using an anonymous donor, but this program has the largest DE selection in the US and one of largest in the world, so we were able to analyze profiles and look for important traits to us etc. Glad we are going this route now, takes some of the worry off of the donor decision part of it.

What was your round about cost for the egg donation, if you could share. I did receive a price from a previous RE and it was about 20k.After doing one expensive IVF and loosing our baby at six weeks, we opted to pay more for a higher chance. We traveled out of state to a clinic that guarantees pregnancy or they refund all of your money. They deem pregnancy to be "delivery of the baby". We are in a program called shared risk and shared egg. The program gives us six chances to get pregnant. We share the cost of the DE cycle with two other couple and share those eggs. The initial cost is 29,000. We pay for meds and U/S and that is it during. The pros are high success rates and one fee and money back. You can drop from program any time and get money back. Cons...expensive but gives six chances!

I have read that people have done "mock" trials to see how their body would repond to the meds for preparing for transfer. Have any of you had this done? Yes, I believe all clinics make you do a mock to see if you are creating a nice lining.

I haven't really discussed this option with my RE yet. After 2 failed IUI she has put me on BC pills to see if that helps with follicle stimulation after I come off. We will try another 2 months afterwards before considering the donor egg option. I am afraid to try IVF. Even though I am only 29, I think that the DOR has not only diminished the quantity but also the quality of my eggs. Please listen to me on this note...DO NOT put off IVF. As each year passes, especially with DOR...your chances lessen. If you have DOR they will need you to make at least two high-quality eggs to proceed (most reputable clinics) It is not frightening, it just feels so "lab like". I am curious what you are afraid of. If you do the IVF with Donor eggs, you have a GREAT chance to have a healthy baby now. Our first doctor was horrible and did not push IVF and I wish she did. Be pro-active now. Best advice I can give.

Sorry I can not share DE successes or failures yet. My signature shows our journey. Much love and success! Best wishes for a healthy baby soon.

[Francesca13]

Thanks for the information, Rachel.

Quick question about costs: do you have to save up and pay for everything at once, or do most clinics allow a payment plan? It seems so weird to be talking about a payment plan for a child, but after all of this, NOTHING seems strange to consider anymore!!

My husband and I were talking about this the other day and I said "wow, it's just soooo expensive" and then he pointed out that we just paid $32K for a deck and landscaping, so shouldn't a child be worth that, too?? It's hard to put a price on starting a family....but I sure wish it was CHEAPER!!!!

Thanks again for the advice and things to consider.

[Rachel38]

however, please note that the plans offered by clinics have average or worse rates of interest. You can generally pay less on your own credit cards or using a loan from the bank. We opted to take 1/3 from savings and a credit card offered us 0 % Interest rate for a year. We jumped on it and will then transfer to another at 0 if we do not get it paid off. They do require it paid in full before you begin, whether it be through their credit plan or your own. Good luck.

[Ladybuglee]

hi. i'm sorry about your diagnosis - it is tough to face, i know! i was never actually diagnosed with DOR or poor egg quality, but after 4 attempts at ivf with two of them cancelled b/c of too few eggs and fertilization an issue in the other 2 cycles, it was obvious. here are the answers to your questions:

What were your success rates? Did it happen for you first time around? my RE said we had about an 85% chance of success with the 2 embies we transferred. he said he'd be extremely surprised if it didn't work. yes, it worked the first time we did DE, and we also have 2 beautiful frosties.

Did you use someone that you knew or did you go with someone that you didn't? We used an anonymous donor from our clinic. we were told the average wait once we were on the list was about 6 months, but we were matched in 1 1/2 months and were very happy. if you do use a known donor, most clinics require them to be under a certain age, usually under 35 or possibly younger.

What was your round about cost for the egg donation, if you could share. we were fortunate in that our insurance covered the procedures for the donor and us, including all u/s, b/w, er, et, anesthsia, etc... we had to pay a $3500 clinic fee, $8000 donor fee, $3500 for donor's meds (which i'm trying to get back from insurance co) and $1000 to store our frozen embryos. we looked into borrowing from capital one (they offer health related loans) but the interest rate was so high. my clinic doesn't have payment plans, so we borrowed from my parents and are paying them back. we also used our tax return from last year.

I have read that people have done "mock" trials to see how their body would repond to the meds for preparing for transfer. I seem to have a problem with my lining as it only got up to 6mm after injections. Have any of you had this done? yes, i had to do a mock cycle as per my clinic. my lining never got as thick as when i would do iui's or ivf, but my clinic wanted it at 7 by a certain day and i did that. it got thicker by transfer date, and i think the progesterone and estrogen help.

hope this is what you wanted to know. as you can see from my signature, we're expecting twins, so DE was our miracle! it's hard to wrap your brain around at first, and i still struggle (for lack of a better word) with the idea on occasion, but it was a wonderful experience and i can't wait to meet our results!

[Godiva4me]

Francesca- First be patient with people on our group responding... typically our group posts alot during the week, but not so much during the weeekends as they are busy with activities and families!
I will attempt to answer some questions, although several gave you good info. thus far:

1. Success rate about 65-70%. Yes, successful on try one, but unfortunately m/c due to SCH. Have 8 snowembies to use later... yippee!

2.Used anonymous donor from RE donor pool.

3. Cost varies... I did a shared/split cycle where you split the donors eggs between yourself and another recipient. It's less expensive if you do shared cycle. It was about $15,000. I took out a loan to cover costs.

4. Mock cycle required, which is great... lets RE know if more meds needed for example for your lining and if catheter to transfer embryos will go inside easily.

Good luck and hope this information helped you out a little bit. If you decide to do DE, please join us on the DE IVF thread... it's an AMAZING group and oh sooo much support! It's the best group here in my opinion!

I agree, I would enjoy this break from treatments, but then get a POA and go for it.... wish I had started a few years earlier, but didn't, so know I am just moving fwd. and hope it's my turn in 2010!

[shanna0618]

Thank you for all of your responses ladies. It is very hard for me to wrap my brain around all of this. With the loss of my son and now infertility problems it is a lot to deal with obviously.

Thanks again!

[Mom]

CNY in Syracuse NY is the most inexpensive in US and has a no interest payment plan. They are great and worked well for us.