Shared cycles

[Herbsie]

Has anyone tried a shared IVF cycle, donating a portion of your eggs? I'm looking for as much info as I can get on the topic.
Thanks
Herbsie

[jaxter]

Hello Herbsie,
I did one round of egg sharing in the UK last fall. Overall it was a wonderful experience and the clinic I worked with was delightful. Although I did not get a positive result the whole treatment went very well and much better than my first IVF cycle.

At the clinic I went to I paid a initial consultation fee of 140 pounds and a cycle management fee of 500 pounds and the rest was paid by the recipient. All drugs and monitoring was included. They harvest the eggs and you keep half and the recipient gets half. If there is an odd number then you get the "extra one". If you decide to do ICSI you will have to pay for that service yourself (which was 600 pounds). They do have you go though the usual battery of blood tests (which you are charged for, I had the whole workup and it was about 200 pounds) and it takes a couple of weeks to a couple of months to find a suitable match. They are looking for biologically similar matches as well as physical similarities. It took them about 3 weeks to get a suitable match for me. The UK doctors also have to report to HFEA so there is a lot of paperwork to fill out and you must sign up with a UK General Practioner doctor as well. It does take some legwork to get going but you only have to do it once and then whenever you want to go through the cycle you are all set.

I would certainly do it again if a) I were still under the age cutoff and b) I lived in the UK. Since we live in the US it is harder to coordinate the cycle. Overall I think our cycle cost us about $2500 not including travel. This was less than we paid for drugs for our first round.

I did find several clinics in the US that do egg sharing. Their cutoff is usually around 32-34 years old. The UK clinic was 35. There are other clinics in Europe that have egg sharing programs which are very similar to the UK program. If you are 35 or older you can forget the egg sharing programs anywhere, they really want 25 year olds (yes, I was actually told this by one clinic). I hope this helps.

[Herbsie]

Thanks for the info. You've been most helpful. So now I guess all I can do is wait for the clinic to call me back. It's been 2 weeks already, should I take that as a bad sign?

[jaxter]

I wouldn't take it personally that you haven't heard from them. If you weren't a good candidate they would tell you right away (or right after getting the test results that took you out of the running). Give them a call and check. They shouldn't mind and they can give you an estimate as to what their normal timeframe for placement is. Each clinic is different, so be bold and come right out and ask. The worst they can tell you is they don't have a match for you.

Good luck!

[asilomar]

Hi,
I am on the shared cycle list myself, as a potential egg sharer. What clinic are you signed up with? I have gone out on the last 2 lists and no interest yet. I don't know if there will be, but its nice to have the possibility out there.

Feel free to email me if you want to chat...

Kate

[Herbsie]

Hi Kate
So nice to find someone in the same boat as I am. Thus far my clinic is not too keen on me doing a shared cycle and are working on a payment plan or something. It seems they want someone with proved fertility to consider shared cycles. I would've thought they'd jump at this opportunity because there is such a high demand for donor eggs in SA. I'm waiting to hear back from them.
I'm unable to trace your email, but please feel free to contact me on helen (dot) herbst (at) eskom (dot) co (dot) za

Keep your chin up!
Helen

[asilomar]

"Proven fertility" seems so strange to me, as I have secondary IF. Yes, I do have children but things were a lot different when I was in my 20's. Now that the 30's are upon me (just turned 34) things don't quite work the same for me. We had been trying for 3 years and had 1 mc before we got pg in August with the twins that turned out to be bilateral ectopics which cost me both tubes. So while I sort of understand their point of view...that doesn't mean that "proven fertility" equals fertility now.

But hey! I'm not bitter!

Kate

[foxyvixen]

Iam 44 yr old and I have done a ED with another woman.
She shared her eggs with me. I did get a BFN tho.
Iam getting ready to do another split cycle, plus they take payments too.
My clinic welcomes split cycles plus you get to see most of the women pictures to match your self with some dont.
Iam in western NY.

[nursenan]

hi. a topic I actually know about heehee

I just participated in the Cooper Center for IVF in NJ's donor egg program. they pair up a woman who has eggs but can't really afford her IVF, <or someone that donates her eggs for the cash> with someone who needs eggs. this clinic is one of the few that does this,so people go there from all over the country. the success rates are pretty high too.

So I was a donor. I put a profile in a book, and was chosen 1 month later by a recipient. I had to write a 20 page term paper on my life and submit photos. Once picked, they put me on BCP to match our cycles together. Then I got stimulated with the meds, and turned into a chicken. I made 40 eggs. talk about discomfort then the retrieval which was uneventful and I kept 6 eggs, and the rest of the mature eggs went to her.

All said and done, she got BFP I got BFN. no real reason, I guess I didn't fall into the percentages. but it cost me 4500 total for my IVF with nothing covered by insurance. and the program<recipient> paid for my stim meds, egg retrieval and anesthesia. and the staff is so great. they called me back efficiently every day with instructions.

Wow I sound like an add. good luck to you all on your roads to motherhood.

[asilomar]

Why did you only get 6 and she got the rest? I thought you were to share equally anything over 6, and if an odd number, the recipient got the extra?