Donor Egg after failed IVF

[Maya39]

Hi, I'm 39 and have a very high FSH level (24 after the clomid test). I just went through 1 ivf try with my own eggs which resulted in 7 eggs retrieved of which 6 matured and only 3 fertilized. Unfortunately, none of them implanted. Now I am considering using a donor. I wanted to do that from the beginning actually in light of my FSH level, but my husband is uncomfortable with the idea. My questions are:
1. Has anyone here found success on the 2nd IVF try with a high FSH level using their own eggs?
2. Do you know of a good donor program in the DC area where you get to see a picture of the donor & her profile?
3. Has anyone found success with donated eggs after failing with their own?
4. How much did the ivf with donor eggs cost you approximately, meds included?

Thank you to all those who posted in the past. I have found a wealth of information and tons of consolation on this website. My best wishes to all you current and potential mothers. No one understands the anxiety, sorrow and loss that we feel when they can pop a baby without any effort.

Maya

[bmg305]

I live in IL and BCBS has covered 80% of my 2 failed IVFs and 1 failed DE cycle. I'm going to try for an FET cycle with the remaining 2 DE embryos. BCBS also covered 80% of the donor's meds and procedures.

Bree

[mimie2009]

I went to genetic IVF. The first time, I had only 2 follicle. I did have any egg after egg retrieval. I went straight to egg donor cycle. I failed first time with embryo transfer from egg donor. I will try second time this month. Anyway, I think Shady Grove clinic or Genetic IVF clinic are the same.I am 41 year old. I had 3 biological kids when I was young age, started age 17 year old. I had tubal ligation. I never have any problem to get pregnant when I was young.  Good luck to you.

[epoh]

I currently live in Massachusetts and I am considering using donor eggs for next IVF cycle.  Despite a fe calls to our insurance company BCBS, I have yet to get a straight answer as to what costs they cover for going this route?  Anyone with BCBS go through IVF with donor eggs in Massachusetts and can help me get an idea of out of pocket costs of treatment?

Thanks

[Maya39]

80% coverage for the IVF is excellent. What state are you in?

I have actually looked into it and it is based on your state laws. I think there are only 2 states that require coverage for donor cycles. One is Massachussetts and I forgot what the other one is. I'm in VA so my focus was on my state and once you say the word donor, you lose all coverage to yourself as well as the donor. The insurance won't even pay for the pregnancy test. Once you're pregnant, your coverage kicks in for your doctor visits, etc. Most of the clinics in the DC area charge between 25K to 33K for the egg donor cycle.

Best of luck.

[40smama]

Usually in my experience anyway, insurance policies do not cover donor cycles.  They can run anywhere from $18K+.  It largely depends on the donor's fees.  We were lucky - we were able to give some of my meds leftover from a previous cycle to the donor plus we paid upfront and the re's office gave us a discount - small, but it helped.

[Silapooh]

Hi, just checking to see how you cycle is going. Did you finally pick your donor? I live in the DC area and I am presently doing a donor cycle with Shady Grove. This will actually be my 3rd attempt at IVF. My first cycle was cancelled because I did not respond to the medication. My second round with donor eggs was negative and now I am waiting for a new cycle. If this cycle fails, I am thinking about using a different RE. Is the Genetics & IVF institute in Fairfax, VA working out for you? I will check out their website to see what they offer.

[sharon7222]

Hi, I am 42y/o and live in IL but am going to a fertility center in Syracuse, NY for their ed program.  The success rates aren't the very best out there but the price is $14k for a single cycle and $6,200 if you do a shared cycle.  I know someone on this site had gone to the clinic and had positive things to say about it.  It costs $30 here in IL so I figure I can try twice out there if I have to.  They also had a ton of donors with pix, which I liked.  I plan on doing a mock cycle in June.  I am really nervous but after 5 mc, this is the way to go for me.

[Viola67]

Hello!
I am a lurker on this thread. I am 41 years old and live in NYC. So far I have had 5 IVF attempts. The first was cancelled due to poor response. Second I made it to transfer with 3 embryos that resulted in a chemical pregnancy. The third I ovulated before RT. The fourth 5 eggs were RT, 2 were mature and none fertilized. This last time 5 eggs were RT, 3 fertilized and I ended up with 2, 8 cell embryos, and 1 compact morula. It was my best cycle to date and I was very, very hopeful it was my time but devastatingly, nothing took. I am so disappointed.
Now, for the first time I am 90% sure I am moving on to donor eggs. I have actually been on-line all day searching for a donor and found about 4 who are registered at the center I go to. I have a follow-up appointment on 6/5. I am inspired by all the success stories and they give me the will to go on.
I have a question regarding insurance, if anyone knows. My insurance currently covers IVF 80% up to $50,000 lifetime. Do you think they will cover a donor egg cycle?

Thanks so much and sticky baby dust to everyone!  

[40smama]

This might sound a little simple but try googling fertility clinics in your area - I imagine you'll come up w/lots of clinics.  I would also investigate ones that are associated w/teaching hospitals - that's just my opinion though.  Do good research & I hope you get your BFP soon! - jen

[mysty2001]

I highly recommend donated embryos
It saves babies, prevented unwanted terminally frozen babies and offers more chances of success
The closes clinic to you ???  But the one in New Jersery (cooper center)  is not far and I forget her firest name - wilson is her last name will be glad to help you
I was thrilled to get pregnant only two 1/2 months after filling out paper work

[longwait]

Has anyone used any donor egg programs in NYC?  I just had a fail IVF and want to start with donor egg.  I am 42, had good results with retrieval, did PGD and had only one good egg which didn't implant. I'm hoping I'll have luck with donor egg but want to get options as to what agencies to look at.
Thanks

[hummed]

I'm thinking of going to IVFNJ for a opinion. I went to two other Dr.'s to get 2nd opinions, thinking of getting a third with them.  Good luck to you, let's hope we get our bundle of joy :) Donna

[Maya39]

Hi Denise,

I am so glad you have a child already and wish you the best in getting her a sister/brother. I looked at all the clinics in DC and decided on Genetics & IVF institute in Fairfax, VA. The reason behind my choice is that they have the largest donor database in the area and allowed me access to their database online. I was able to see all the data I needed on the donors: personal info, medical history, essay, baby pix and even listen to an audio interview with each candidate. Once I narrowed my choices, I was able to access the adult pictures when I visited their clinic. If you can believe it, none of the ones I had chosen through their baby pix ended up being my final choice through their adult pix. I was careful about the blood type because I want to have the option of not telling my child if I choose to. I have not told any family member/friend outside this forum either. Given that I am putting all our savings into this and can only afford it once, I avoided any first time donors and chose ones who produced a decent number of eggs with good results. I now have picked 4 potential donors (all depends on their availability and mine) and it is just a matter of time to get our testing done and get us both ready. It was very important to me to see the adult pictures even though I know this may not be a priority to others. Since I have never even been pregnant, I have also asked the RE if there were any tests to see that my uterus is not a factor and he suggested an HYS test which I am scheduled to do tomorrow. If you'd like to discuss this outside the forum, let me know and I would like to compare notes with you as I am new at this too.
Can you give me an idea how much they will be charging you at IVFNJ for this?

All the best, Maya  

[MaddiesMom242]

Maya,

I to am in the process of chosing a donor for IVF.  I went through 2 failed cycles with my own eggs and seemed to produce ok but none implanted.  I will be 38 in June and they gave me an 80% chance with donor eggs.  I have a 2 YO DD that I had naturally agter two miscarriages, hence the reason to use donor eggs because I fear my egg quality.  The fact of the matter is it only takes one good egg and my daughter is proof of that.  May I ask what clinic you are going to?  I have seen baby pics of the donors but it is so hard to make a decision because a proven donor is most impirtant to me.  Let me know an update with you.

Denise

[hummed]

Good luck to you too, let's hope we get our bundles of joy :) Donna

[Maya39]

Hey Jen,

So I went to another RE on Wednesday with all my medical records for a 2nd opinion. My regular RE wants me to go for another round of IVF with my own eggs. The new doc on the other hand showed me that my medical records listed my FSH at 30.9 on day 3 of the ivf meds. He said that had I been his patient, he would not have recommended even one trial because my chances are 0 to 2% for success in his opinion and I would be wasting my time, money and hopes on something that is unlikely to work. Despite how gloomy the news was, I felt relieved to know the truth. It gave me peace with my decision to go for an egg donor. I looked at the database of donors they have at the clinic (pix, medical history, values & personal interests) and identified 4 candidates I was interested in. My heart is set on one though. She is 22 years old, has a baby picture that looks like me as a baby (as an adult, she is even prettier) and has similar interests and values. There are 5 people on her waiting list, but the donor coordinator thinks that I may clear before all of them because I have done most of the diagnostic tests already. I just have to do an HYS to make sure that the uterus is in good shape. I was worried about spending all this money, only to find out that my uterus is problematic and requested this test. Doc agreed that it would be a good idea. I will start BCP after my next period to prep. I was surprised your RE gave you 85% chance of success. Mine said the average is 70% and I think that if I have some left to freeze, the odds should be in my favor to have at least 1 child. If this fails, I won't have any savings left to adopt, but adoption is such a roller coaster ride that I don't want to deal with it. Thank you helping me with your valuable experience. I have no one to talk to about this and appreciate an infertility sister.

Donna, best of luck. We may be doing this at the same time. I hope we both get our bundles of joy that way.

Hugs, Maya

[40smama]

Thanks - my little boy is the sweetest baby - I really enjoy him - he's such a treasure.  My donor was 22 years old.  We only transferred one embryo & had 11 6 day embryos to freeze.  I would go for a much younger donor - early to mid 20's if I were you provided that her medical/social history's good.  My re said my chances of getting pregnant rose exponentially  w/using donor eggs.  Our embryologist gave us an 85% chance of getting pregnant - he even asked us if we wanted one child or two.  We had 10 minutes to decide.

This time two years ago, I was in the same dilemna:  should I go for a donor cycle or adopt?  I wanted to be able to control the pregnancy but a donor cycle is expensive & there are no guarantees.  I sweated over this one so much!  I used to lie in bed thinking about what if it didn't work?   I know this might sound silly but around that time, we adopted a giant schnauzer named Max (you can see a pic in my profile). Max saved my sanity - kept things "real" if you will.  He gave me something else to focus on rather than babies, donors, money, cycles, etc.

Also my middle daughter, when I was starting the cycle, made me a visualization board w/pics of babies, pregnant women, preschoolers, etc.  I focused on that everyday and pictured myself getting the call that I was pg, getting a positive hpt, wearing maternity clothes, shopping for cribs, holding a baby, so forth and so on.

Donna, good luck this summer!  I hope all goes well with you and that you get your BFP first time around - I wish you SSBD - jen

[hummed]

Thank you for responding back to me.  We are going to try donor eggs in the summer. I hope it works! Donna

[Maya39]

Your boy is gorgeous. God bless! Thank you for sharing your experience. Did your doctor tell you how much your chance of success increases when you use a donor versus your own eggs? I go tomorrow to another RE that has a much better donor database where you get to see the donor's picture and learn a lot about her. It will cost me over $30K paid in advance, but it will be all worth it if it works. Since I can't afford a repeat, I need to be very careful with the donor. I was surprised that they had some donors between the age of 30 to 34 years old. Given that I have been trying since I was 31 years old with no success, I am inclined towards a younger donor in her mid twenties. How old was yours? Did you have embryos left over to freeze? Thank you in advance for your help.

[Maya39]

How old are you if you don't mind me asking? I begged my doctor to transfer 4 embryos, but he said the maximum is 3 from fear of multiple births. I actually want twins since I have no kids at all. I'm surprised yours agreed. Anyway, this was a non issue since we ended up with 3 embryos only and none resulted in pregnancy. Best of luck to you.

[40smama]

Well, I'm a little older than you and had a live birth (baby boy last April) via donor eggs.  It can be done on women any age, I believe, who builds up adequate uterine lining & has no other underlying issues.

I'm so sorry about your IVF cycles - I went through only one and when it was cancelled, I was devastated so I can imagine that going through two must've been heartbreaking.  All the best to you - jen

[hummed]

I was wondering if anyone had success using donor eggs resulting in live birth.   I'm 39 and I had two failed IVF cycles using my own eggs.  Everything was fine-6 eggs each time, 4 were transfered.  None of them implanted each time.    I asked the Dr. why it failed and she thinks it's my age that's causing them not to implant.  Did anyone use donor eggs at my age and have luck?  

[fifi blue]

The donor agency we used had the donor fill out an extensive questionnaire.  It had all kinds of questions about family medical history, education, sexual history etc etc.  I did see pictures.  We chose based on a couple of factors.  Education, physical likeness and shared values.

[40smama]

Our insurance didn't pay a dime for anything regarding a donor cycle either.  Gosh, DC is expensive - we live in rural New Mexico/west Texas so as you can imagine the costs are less.  I'm not surprised to find higher prices.  I wonder if you could find a clinic where you just pick your donor from their pool of donors - that's what we did instead of going through a donor agency.

We didn't see a pic of our donor but I'm finding out that many women do see them.  We relied heavily on the medical history plus we also took the physical description and social history into account.  Our donor did write an essay which was interesting as it seemed to explain her desire to help out other people.  

I hope this helps - good luck w/everything and God bless - jennifer