Any stories of healthy pregnancy with donor eggs at 45 or older?

[Anonymous]

We really want our 3 year old to have a sibling, if possible. My pregnancy with her had no complications and I was 41 at the time. We decided to use DE and bought a lot of frozen eggs. Ended up with 2 blasts (didn't test them). First transfer ended in mc. I turned 45 right after that and my clinic requires clearance from an MFM doc at 45. I had my consult and am now wondering whether to proceed based on all of the risks I was told about (risks because of being 45 plus risks associated with using donor eggs plus risks associated with IVF). I'm healthy and active but am wondering if we are just tempting fate. I'd love to hear experiences from any others who have used DE at an older age.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn’t at age 45.

[Anonymous]

I had my second with a donor egg at 45. She is in late elementary school now. I had no issues with the pregnancy (same as the first two) or afterwards.

I am completely glad we did it although while I used to be so glad we were years from facing an empty nest, now I sometimes think the number of years to an empty nest seems long!

[Anonymous]

45 is old to start another child in our society with so little support for mothers and ever increasing age for social security and minimal retirement plans. You will be 65 (and not eligible for SS) when your child is still in college. If by some chance your child has SN you will be old yourself and dealing with your older parents among other things.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I had my second with a donor egg at 45. She is in late elementary school now. I had no issues with the pregnancy (same as the first two) or afterwards.

I am completely glad we did it although while I used to be so glad we were years from facing an empty nest, now I sometimes think the number of years to an empty nest seems long!

OP here, thank you!

[Anonymous]

I’m 42 and doing DE. If it works and I have a blast leftover I could see myself transferring it in the hopes of another baby. I don’t see why 45 is a cut off. Can you share more about the risks of using DE and how the MFM explained it compounds the risk of IVF at age 45?

[Anonymous]

I had my third at just two months shy of 45. Own egg. The pregnancy was uneventful and I was traveling internationally up until 7 months.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m 42 and doing DE. If it works and I have a blast leftover I could see myself transferring it in the hopes of another baby. I don’t see why 45 is a cut off. Can you share more about the risks of using DE and how the MFM explained it compounds the risk of IVF at age 45?

I definitely don't want to scare you as I think you will be fine! But in answer to your question I understood the following risks:

From IVF - increased risk of heart and lungs problems as well as birth defects. I think the increased risk over standard pregnancies is pretty small though.

From DE - increased risk of developing high blood pressure, preeclampsia, having a low birth weight baby, and premature birth.

From 45+ - increased risk of developing gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, placental complications, premature birth, and stillbirth.

I'm not a medical professional and might have misunderstood though, so please ask your doctor. I'm also not certain how much of an increase there is. The doctor did say that she didn't think any of these things would happen to me but she needed to advise me of the possible complications. It was a little overwhelming to hear all of that in a ten minute span.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I had my third at just two months shy of 45. Own egg. The pregnancy was uneventful and I was traveling internationally up until 7 months.

Thank you and congratulations!

[Anonymous]

My sister had twins (now 11 years ago) at 49. She had older OE kids. That pregnancy-even w/twins-was a healthy easy one-she worked up to day of planned c-section at 38.5 weeks. She had to do some testing before but her RE had no concerns re her age. She had no glaring health issues just was overweight before & after pregnancy but not obese.

[Anonymous]

^^^to clarify these twins were DE

[Anonymous]

If you are using frozen donor eggs you will only be doing FET, so that’s way less hormones than traditional IVF.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My sister had twins (now 11 years ago) at 49. She had older OE kids. That pregnancy-even w/twins-was a healthy easy one-she worked up to day of planned c-section at 38.5 weeks. She had to do some testing before but her RE had no concerns re her age. She had no glaring health issues just was overweight before & after pregnancy but not obese.

Thank you!

[Anonymous]

Had my second from frozen DE at 45. First was with Oe at 40. No problems with either pregnancy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:45 is old to start another child in our society with so little support for mothers and ever increasing age for social security and minimal retirement plans. You will be 65 (and not eligible for SS) when your child is still in college. If by some chance your child has SN you will be old yourself and dealing with your older parents among other things.

There’s a big social security bump if you have a minor child while receiving payouts. Something like $18000 a year.