[alottadawgz]

Hello Everyone. I've recently been researching my options and came across this site, and this forum alone has prompted me to post. I am so glad I've found this place!

I turned 42 on 11/29/07 and I have had 5 m/c's and one tubal pregnancy since 1998. After the last m/c, which occurred in 2005 it was discovered I have a genetic issue called Balanced Translocation. From what I understood when it was explained to me, the ends of two genes have swapped places. When I get pregnant the miscarriages usually result from my genetic material not swapping properly during conception. So basically my eggs are not viable. The fact that it took that length of time for me to actually be referred to a genetic counselor for testing is heartbreaking to me because it appears to have wasted valuable time in my attempts to become pregnant.

After my last m/c I gave up on becoming a mother. My doc at the time indicated that given the BT dx and my 'advanced age' I had less than a 2% chance. Recent events in my life have brought me to re-examine my options, and thanks to the info I've found on another board, and some add'l research, I'm looking at embryo adoption.

Obviously, I'm very early in the process. I have an appt with 2 local clinics on 1/3 and am crossing my fingers that the one I'm leaning towards will give me some positive feedback.

In any case, if anyone has experience with EA and can offer me some advice on what to do or not do, I would greatly appreciate it, and I wish everyone the best of luck on their journey to "BFP's"

[kblythe]

Hey there!

I'm so glad that you've found another potential option! As you can see by my signature, I'm 7 weeks preggo with donated embryos. I think it's a great route to motherhood. Feel free to ask me any questions you can think of.

Just so you know, if you go through an agency such as Snowflake, it's called embryo "adoption." You pay for home studies and a program fee. From a legal standpoint, it's not really adoption. If you go through a reproductive endocrinology practice, they refer to it generally as "embryo donation." The patients who end up with extra embryos donate them and the practice places them with a family. Although I had a psych consult, I didn't have to have a home study or pay additional fees. Whereas my ivf cycles ran around $17,000, the donor embryo cycle was around $3,000, so much more affordable.

I lucked out and ended up with leftover embryos that were the result of a biological father and an egg donor, so the eggs came from a 26-year-old. Have you considered egg donation? It's more expensive than either ivf or embryo donation, but it would be your husband's sperm. Plus, you would be guaranteed young eggs. Given your history, you don't have any problem getting pregnant or carrying a pregnancy, you're just genetically challenged! The good news is, our age doesn't matter if we are using someone else's eggs!

Good luck in this process.

Kathryn.

[alottadawgz]

Hi Kathryn!
Thank you for the post! I've checked out the snowflakes site and they will not be an option for me. I'm not married, and I got the distinct impression that single mom's are not high on their client list.

I have two appts tomorrow with local clinics to discuss my options. I do have a significant other in my life, and he has two boys, but I'm not confident that he wants to be a daddy again. Because of that, and the fact that I already need donor eggs, I anticipate going with embryo donation. I've tried to read up on the process but I feel completely lost trying to come up with the appropriate questions to ask the REs. If you're out here tonite and could give me some advice on what I should ask tomorrow I would appreciate it.

Thank you Kathryn!

[kblythe]

Sorry I didn't see your post last night. I'm feeling under the weather and went to bed early.

We're in similar circumstances. I, too, am single, which precluded me from using Snowflake or any other "agency." Fortunately, my ivf practice doesn't discriminate against single women.

I hope your appointments today went well. I'm sure you thought to ask the only question I could think of: namely, what is the wait time. I think the bigger the practice, the shorter the wait. I'm lucky because I'm in at a large practice in a big metropolitan area. Plus, my RE who sheparded me through two failed iuis and two failed ivfs is the head of the donor embryo program, so I think that as soon as he saw donated embryos that matched my ethnic profile he thought of me. In fact, I didn't have to wait at all between my last failed ivf and my attempts to get pregnant using donated embryos.

Keep me posted on your progress!

Kathryn.

[alottadawgz]

Well, I had the first appt this morning, and leave for the 2nd shortly. I am NOT encouraged, as the first clinic is the one I believe offers more services.

Clinic#1 indicated that they have never had embryo's donated; all patients either use or claim the embryo's for storage. This clinic has been around since the early 90s and is in the state capital (SC). I love the R/E - she's very personable and her staff that I met were thoroughly professional. She said for me to go the donor embryo route I would need to locate the embryo myself and arrange for the transfer to her clinic. She indicated that the FET rates of success are considerably lower than IVF, although she does them frequently with patients who've undergone IVF with her before. She also indicated that her IVF success rates with donors were in the 80s. One of her staff gave me a pricing estimate that came out to $18286 with my minimal insurance, and a referral to ARC for financing. The cost of FET if I have an unsuccessful IVF would be $4k. She also transfers on day 3 as opposed to day 6, which what I've read doesn't give the best success rate, but she believes she already has a better than respectable success rate with IVF.

Overall, I reallllly like her and the clinic. My issue right now is its not the route I wanted to go, and I don't know if I'm unrealistic in wanting to go donor embryo, or if she's pushing the IVF because thats what she's more comfortable with.

In any case, I have another appt with the doc that dx'd my BT, and I'm not hopeful. His site says nothing about donor embryo, and he has the bedside manner of Danny Devito, so I would not be surprised to hear a "H3LL NO - what were you thinking?!"

Wish me luck. I think I'm going to need it.

[alottadawgz]

Well, the second appt didn't really tell me anything I didn't already know about IVF. This doctor is associated with a clinic based about 3 hrs away and he indicated that the IVF would go thru them. I already have an info pkg from them and they do not do donor embryo, and their IVF costs are $20k +.

He did talk with me about the BT and I told me a bit more info about it; I now know which genes are swapped which satisifies my curiousity but does nothing else worthwhile for me.

So now I have the paperwork I've been given to go thru, and to see what my chances are in locating a clinic that will do DE, or just give up the struggle and try IVF.

[kblythe]

Do you have any interest in contacting my clinic in Atlanta? I'd be more than happy to give you the name of my RE, of whom I am very very fond.

From my discussions with my doctor, I think the federal government made embryo donation really difficult for a few years. Before a couple could donate embryos, they had to go through additional medical testing, which most people were unwilling to do. But the FDA, or whatever group is responsible, has recently relaxed the rules, making embryo donation less burdensome for both donees and clinics.

As for the lower success rate, I think it's because you're generally using either an older person's eggs or someone else's who has had trouble conceiving. I lucked out in getting embryos that came from a young egg donor.

One more thing, my practice is currently in the process of setting up an egg bank. Although it's more expensive than traditional ivf, it's less expensive than paying for an egg donor yourself. Medical technology has recently figured out how to freeze and successfully thaw eggs like they do sperm, making egg banks a possibility. I do know that costs are prohibitive. I paid for everything myself ... insurance covered nothing and I have no dh or partner. But I figured that having a child ... my lifelong dream, cost as much as a car. A really really nice car when you add up the failed iuis and ivfs, but still just a car. For me, it was worth it.

Good luck, and again, ask me any questions you can think of.

Kathryn.

[Christin2084]

Hi ,
Have you thought about Cooper Clinic in new jersey? They do alot of donor embryo's and you dont have to be married either. The total cost is about $3000-4000 I think. If you go to their website they have a lot of information about it ccivf.com

*edited to add* When I contacted them about the Donor embryo program they said the success rate was in the high 40's.

[Dona]

Hi!
I just came to read this thread because I am also considering this after not getting encouraging news at my first follie check on this IVF cycle. My clinic has several stapled pages of "available" embryos and when I asked my nurse how long of a wait, she said she'd put me next on the list...so, I assumed that meant not long at all. They charge $2,300 for the entire procedure and I only inject Lupron. My nurse explained that they can match you up as best as they can based on our desires (we aren't being too picky, just considering only caucasion this first time around, eye and hair color, etc. is not a big thing with us.) They only put back embryos that came from a couple who had success with IVF...if the couple did NOT have success, my clinic will not adopt out any remaining embryos this couple may have...so, I believe that might mean a higher success rate.

I wish you the best in your journey, please come back and keep us posted.

Dona

[juststarting]

Hi everyone,
I hope this thread will still be active! I've just started looking at embryo donation/adoption and was so excited to stumble upon this site. I'm in east Tennessee and am looking for possible places within easy driving distance to get started. I haven't made any phone calls yet- I've just started looking around on the web and found a possible clinic in Nashville.
Oh, I almost forgot the big detail: I'm single, too, and I've gotten the impression it's not easy to find places to donate to single women. It's nice to see from your posts that it is possible.
I guess I'm just putting this out there to see if there's anything major I should know as I get started from people who've had much more experience than I have.
Thanks!

[LGB]

Welcome! This site is awesome!

I know in TN there is the NEDC, but their pricing is of course more expensive than going directly with an RE. In IN, which is not close to you though, I've heard the Jarrett Fertility, and let me check my list and get back with you bc I started making one and have some info!

[Ready2bMama]

We're using the NEDC in Knoxville (technically, Farragut).

I found their prices to be reasonable. So I guess what you consider to be reasonable depends on what part of the country you're in? I'm in Minnesota. I know it'd cost a whole lot more around here.

So the NEDC charges between $4,750 - $5,560.

http://www.embryodonation.org/pdf/NEDC_Fee_Schedule.pdf


I also posted in this thread:

cost embryo donation/RE vs embryo adoption?

How to go about finding a local RE who does embryo adoption or donation from their clinic.

If you have any questions, please pm me. I can actually give you a lot more resources as well, or tell you about our experience with the NEDC.


Sorry, I messed up the links! They should work now

[juststarting]

Thanks for the responses. I've looked up the NEDC online and they don't allow single parents, so even though they're close and convenient, I'm not eligible for their services.
Actually, I found a link in another thread to help me find some places within 200 miles of where I am, so that has been helpful.
I'm not quite ready to commit to actually contacting any places yet, but I'm definitely collecting information. Thanks for your help!
Ready2Bmama I just realized it was your other link that I used in the other thread...it was so helpful. Thanks again!

[ImHis]

alottadawgz... I am using and agency called Embryos Alive. I believe they allow single parents. They have a list on there website of embryos that are available for adoption/donation. They allow the genetic parents to say what they will accept and not accept> if you decide to use them, when you see a group of embryos you would like to adopt, they submit your info to the donor and if you are picked, the agency helps you with all the paperwork. I know not too long ago a donor mom wanted a single person to adopt her embies.
there fees depend a lot on how many embryos you adopt ( I dont think it goes over 5000.00)and if the donors want any reimbursment for storage fees etc. it wouldnt hurt to watch the site and email or call for information. It is also a one women show and the lady is very sweet.
We just adopted 8 little babies, just waiting on them to be shipped!
Once you adopt some, you just need to have an RE that will do the FET on you.So you can have it all done as close to your house as you want.

[drhillsmrs]

Originally Posted by alottadawgz

In any case, if anyone has experience with EA and can offer me some advice on what to do or not do, I would greatly appreciate it, and I wish everyone the best of luck on their journey to "BFP's"

Hi!

We decided quickly on EA after one failed TI cycle with Chlomid. My RE told me that I have an FSH of 21 and only produced 1 egg that didn't develop all the way. We looked into adopting a newborn for $10,000 - $20,000; egg donation in the US for $20,000; egg donation oversees (Mexico or Argentina seemed the best options for this ethically) for $7,000 - $8,000; and embryo adoption through our fertility clinic for $4,000.

Within 2 days of letting our RE know we wanted to pursue EA, he matched us with a family of 4 5-day expanded blasts that are the siblings of a pair of twins born to the donating couple. This couple had themselves used an egg donor. They've only been frozen for a year- all these factors combined, he said, give us our best chance for success.

Within 1 week of being matched, we were reviewing and approving the donors' profiles. This will be an anonymous donation process, which is our preference. We're 1 week into doing our legal paperwork- our attorney says it will take about 2 weeks.

This week, I have appts. for my bloodwork, mammogram & pap smear with STD cultures- all required by my RE before scheduling our transfer. We'll have a mock transfer after all my tests are in. I've also started treatments with an acupuncturist who regularly works with my RE. She's put me on the "fertility diet".

If all goes well, we're on track to schedule our transfer for the end of March, God willing...

Unfortunately, my insurance isn't covering any of my treatments. I do have a FlexPlan through work, which will cover the costs with pre-tax $$ taken out of my paycheck...

Sending you our best wishes, too