Curious about Donor Eggs...Anyone know?

[adgal]

Hi Ladies,

Most of you know my story....easy to conceive, having a tough time carrying full term.  My OB (he is also a fertility specialist) has sort of chalked it up to bad luck and older eggs (I am 39).  DH and I are ttc again now, but if things don't go well this time, it may be time to go to plan B.  We are looking into adoption, and could love any child no matter what, but I feel I would be missing something if I don't have the experience of going through a pregnancy, delivery, etc.  Has anyone with my sort of background gone the donor egg route?  Do you get any sort of "profile" to choose the donor?   In your opinion, would it be a possible solution for me?  Any thoughts, comments or advice would be very welcome.  Thanks ladies, as always I appreciate it.

[astrocat88]

I'm about to use donor ovules.  I have never felt the need to be pregnant (weird?) but I have always wanted children.   My husband and I first wanted to adopt but that is such a crazy and hazy path that we decided to go the fertility path route.   Adoptions are too difficult and too costly and too uncertain and take way, WAY too much time!   The whole adoption thing needs to be reorganized!  Only 10% of orphans are even adoptable!  That is nuts!   Instead of giving a home to a child presently in an orphanage we are spending tons of money to have our own child with donor ovules so that we can have a Family.  But we would just as openly accept an adopted child.  The Adoption Laws are criminal in their stringency and absolutely need to be re-evaluated!   A third-world bureaucratic mess!!!

[babyprayers]

your post says you had a hard time carrying to full term, how long did you carry to,. sometimes there is a problem with lining, blood flow etc... I used donor eggs, due to poor egg quality and am currently pregannt with twin girls., my RE did a mock cycle with me, meaning, I took all the drugs, birth control, estrogen etc.. necessary that would build up the uterine lining, which is pertninent with implantation,they needed to make sure I could implant and carry even using a donor,  my lining got to a 13 a 7 is what they look for so we went a head with a donor,. I lucked out the first time.. good luck to you  

[lynda544]

I used donor eggs also. My husband and I had been trying to adopt internationally for almost 2 years. At 45, I became pregnant. Unfortunately, no heart beat developed. We decided to go to a RE who suggested donor eggs due to my age. I've had 2 biological children already, so the suggestion worked for us. We used an agency called Donor Source where extensive history and photos were supplied. My husband wanted the baby to resemble us so in that respect the photos were helpful. I'm 35 weeks now and all is well. I think because the donor was 21, I became pregnant after our first IVF attempt.
For me the whole D&C, embryo without a heart beat was so devastating, I knew donor eggs were a better choice. Good luck to you!

[adgal]

Thanks for the info, I appreciate it.  I am going to bring up the subject at my next OB appointment.  I think we actually call RE's fertility specialists here (I am in Canada) and I know he does IVF, etc. so perhaps he will be the one to stick with. I am not sure if there is a difference or not, but I will find out. I hope so, as I am really comfortable with him now.  As for the profile I mentioned, photos wouldn't be a big deal to me either.  I am more interested in the donors overall health, medical history, that sort of thing.  Quite frankly, I wouldn't care if my baby was part martian, as long as its healthy.  

My Dr. seems to think that there is still a very strong chance I can carry a healthy pregnancy without intervention right now.  So, one more shot the old fashioned way, then on to other options if it doesn't work out.  I just can't keep going through this, its really taking its toll on me.  THis is where I wish I had some sort of physcic ability or a crystal ball or something so I knew what would work and what wouldn't in advance..lol.  I wish someone would have told me that becoming a mom is not always as simple as we think.  I am just so frustrated, and I can't figure out what the best thing to do is.

Thanks again, and Jennifer, if you really don't mind, I think I will pm you with some questions before we make our final decision.  Talking to someone who has been through it, and obviously had success with it (Noah is beautiful) would be really helpful. I appreciate your offer.

[40smama]

I went the donor egg route as did a couple of other ladies & I delivered a healthy baby boy last April.  We didn't look at pics of donors - we chose one based on medical/social history.  We looked at about 8 histories before we chose one & really I didn't even think to look at a pic of the donor until later.

Is your ob a reproductive endocrinologist?  Definitely consult one if he isn't as they would even have more indepth knowledge of fertility issues.  Have you tried IVF w/your own eggs to see if you can get a high quality embryo?  I tried to have one cycle but it was cancelled right before retrieval due to lack of ovarian stimulation.  I didn't want to go through all of the disappointment of a cancelled cycle again & knowing the procedure probably wouldn't be successful due to my age (was 43 at the time), I went straight to donor eggs and I'm so glad that I did.

This is my personal experience - I hope for you to have SSBD really, really quick - pm me if you have any questions! - jennifer

[ashort]

adgal-  I am also have trouble staying pregnant.  I've had 3 m/c in the past 14 months.  The only thing my RE can come up with is my FSH level is 12.  He would like to see it under 10.  So he thinks my egg quality might not be the best.  I actually spoke to the person in charge of the egg donor program at my RE.  She said we should wait before we try it.  I know what you mean though.  I would go for adoption but I really would like to carry a baby!  If I were you I would talk to my RE about this.  I'm sure you get to choose the person you want.  I think it would be a possible solution for you.  My RE is recommending IUI with injectibles for me.  Have you done that yet?  Good luck to you!