Donor egg process

[Anonymous]

We have decided to proceed to donor egg for secondary infertility. I'm 39 and have decreased ovarian reserve.

I have been doing a lot of reading/researching, but I'm still confused about which is better: fresh vs. frozen, and how to find the best clinic for donor egg that also has the largest donor egg database. Would appreciate hearing the experiences of others who have decided to go to donor egg. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Talk to your RE about success rates for success vs frozen. It depends on what your specific reason is for infertility. I think most stars show pretty close success rates. Shady grove's frozen rates are a tad lower.

[Anonymous]

Po here. Sorry-- stats not stars. Check out the shared risk program at Shady grove. They have a medium sized database but also a frozen database as well which gives you more options.

[Anonymous]

We used DE Shared Risk at SGF. Due to the lack of our ethnic group in their fresh database, we went with the frozen. The difference is success rates between the 2 is small, like a few % points. And quite frankly, knowing what I know now, I'd do frozen bank again, if I had to (which I don't because we got a BFP). But using frozen eggs made the whole process 1,000 times less stressful. I didn't have to worry about timing with other women. Being on pins and needles about how many were retrieved and when the transfer would take place. Gave them a date range that worked for me and they built a calendar based on that. It was so easy, that after IVF, it felt like I was cheating.

[Anonymous]

We also did frozen, never for a minute considered fresh. It just seemed like too many what ifs, uncertainties, and frozen was so, so much faster. You also get the guarantee from the banks that at least one egg will make it to fertilization.

[Anonymous]

Did you need to do a mock cycle before your embryo transfer? Not a mock embryo transfer, but a mock cycle. I have had one preliminary talk about DE with my doctor, and she mentioned a mock cycle during which they make sure your lining is right. Does anyone have further information?

[Anonymous]

I believe it's a Medicated Mock EEP Cycle that you need to do as part of the screening before proceeding with the egg donor program. You do 5 injections over two weeks (1 shot every 3 days) and then go in for blood work and an ultrasound (your uterine lining needs to be ?8mm). You start the cycle between Day 2&5 of menses (you're supposed to go in for a pregnancy test before you begin, but my nurse allowed me to do an HPT because it was over a holiday weekend).

[Anonymous]

Thank you, PP. Very helpful.

[Anonymous]

Also check out the forums over at pved.org (Parents Via Egg Donation). We used fresh with a clinic in NY, but cost was not a factor for us and we didn't need a rare ethnic match. I have a friend right now for whom cost is a factor and she is using the Shady Grove shared risk program. I think that is a very good choice for many people and for many reasons.