IVF using donor eggs. Any success stories?

[mature momma]

I am 45 and just finished first IVF which failed. We are going to try again in August with donor eggs. I heard from someone on the fertility forum that AnnieBrookes has a success story about this. Can you share it with me? Could really use some uplifting facts from someone who has done this. Thanks, Debra

[mslkpage]

I pointed Debra over here hoping you could help her. :)

[Tina398]

u can have your own baby with ur own eggs!!! I know that they can do a pre implant chromosome tests and if everything is fine u can be implanted with ur own eggs fertilized with ur husband's sperms.

I did have an IVF and Im now pregnant but I used my own eggs.

Good luck to u

[AnnieBrooke]

I'm glad to hear some women can do later IVFs with pre-implantation testing.  This wasn't available to us for reasons that don't apply here.  

We looked at the donor agency's list of donors (the agency was recommended by the fertility clinic) and chose a young woman who was from my same background in terms of the countries my great-grandparents had emigrated from, so we looked enough alike that the baby would look enough like me to plausibly be mine genetically.  (I wasn't planning to hide the fact from family, but didn't feel like I should have to explain to the stranger in line at the post office why my child who I carried didn't look like me.)  The sad thing about getting a donor egg is that occasionally you regret the loss of the genetic link to yourself.  The good thing is everything else!  The donor is healthy, tall, lovely and young (age 25) and so I didn't have to have an amnio, and I didn't have to worry that Grandpa's deafness or my mom's macular degeneration was going to pop up in the baby.  My pregnancy had its challenges, but was overall easy too -- I had a "vanished twin," which comes about rather commonly when an IVF clinic puts in two embryos...the doc warned me about it before I ever had one test or procedure.  And at the end I had some nervous doctors who monitored me and monitored me and kept me at the hospital for more tests all through the most inconvenient time of the year (Christmas season), but except for these issues the pregnancy itself was easy and uneventful.  I felt great, didn't gain much weight, and didn't have morning sickness.  (Too bad that can't be guaranteed with all IVF, LOL!!!)  The baby that came out of this is my husband's biological son and my son by all counts except genetic.  I nurse him; he has already picked up some of my behaviors and mannerisms.  People say things like "you two sure make lovely babies!"  

Technical stuff -- they got I think 14 eggs from the donor, nine fertilized, they held them and watched them for 5 days and by then we had five embryos.  They put two in and froze three.  The odds are better for the fresh ones, but we'll probably try with one of the frozen ones later for a sibling for our son.

Let me know what else you'd like to know.

Annie

[AnnieBrooke]

Thanks for the note.  Is it fun over on the fertility forum?  I didn't even know they had one until about two weeks ago.

[mature momma]

You said you had IVF and got pregnant with your eggs. Just curious how old are you? Everything I read says women over 40 only have a 3% chance of pregnancy natural or IVF. With what it cost we can only afford to do this one more time. Our insurance does not cover fertility tx. I'm so confused. Would love to try again with mine but afraid of failure again. Although my RE said he was very surprised at my response.  He said some of his pts. in their mid 20's didn't respond as well as I did. He said actually with my response,  I would not be in that 3%. HELP!!!!! What should I do??????? Debra

[mslkpage]

It's a really different dynamic on the fertility/infertility forum. Since most the women have been TTC for a while, there are very few "am I pg" type questions, or Q's that require the crystal ball. ; ) Less bickering over there, but it could be because there are fewer people posting.

[mature momma]

Thanks for your happy ending story. My husband and I want a child so badly and feel time is running out. If we had the time and money we would try again with my eggs, but thats not the case. He is having a harder time than I am with the idea of a donor. Which I find odd because he is adopted. How was your husband with it? I think he feels it is leaving me out in some way. I told him that once we are pregnant that child would be OUR child in every sense. We have chosen a donor who everyone at our RE office says looks alot like myself. August can't come soon enough. Anxious to be a mom. Thanks again for your wonderful story.  Debra

[AnnieBrooke]

Maybe it's because he is adopted that he wants that biological connection all the way including to you so you will never miss it (the way he did).  My husband every now and then will crow about how much the baby looks like him, kind of dumb to do in front of me if he were to think about it, but it isn't much of a problem; I'm just glad he's so into the baby!!!  He's really really delighted about it.  

[Crazy in Carlsbad]

I am absolutley going crazy waiting for the results from my embryo transfer
which happened on 6/26/2007.  We used a 28 year old donor that produced 25 eggs, 17 fertilized, we had 3 transferred and have 3 frozen.  Sure seems like we lost alot of embryos after fertilization which makes me scared about the number of chances we have if this dosnt work. I am 43 and have been undergoing infertility treatment for three years.  This is the first time that I have tried with a donor.  Pls cross everything that you have...fingers, toes and eyeballs so that I have good luck.  We can swing one more round with the frozens if this dosnt work but my best chances are now.  My Pregnancy test is on July 9th.  I just cant wait that long!!!

[mature momma]

Wow! Your donor produced a lot of eggs. Hope mine does as well. How did things turn out? I hope you got a positive on your test. Let me know:):) Debra

[Mary61]

Hi, my name is Mary.  I am 46 years old.  My husband and I have been trying for a miracle baby for about 4 years now.  We have tried 3 I.U.I's, and 2 I.V.F.'s with no luck.  My doctor also told me that all of my "numbers" were good.  I was told that they were those of someone ten years younger and I had excellent chances with both I.V.F,s.  I wonder, do most doctors want us to get our hopes high so that maybe it would trigger something in out brains to tell it to give us a baby?  It's not right for doctors to do that.  Nonetheless,  my husband and I have gone to a different clinic and were told that because of my age I would probably never get pregnant on my own and if I did the baby might be born with down syndrom.  We were advised to go with donor eggs.  My husband and I are considering. It is quite expensive and we've already used up all of our finds with the previous unsuccessful treatments but we are willing to go into debt for one more try.  I truly hope that God has a helping hand in it this time around. It's really not fun being infertile. Not fun at all. One suggestion I can make to all you woman that are trying to get pregnant is to make sure you Detox for at least 3 months before trying any procedure.  I have done tons of research to better my success rate and that is the bottom line.  When your system is clean, everything else in your body works much better. I wish for you all to finally have your Miracle Baby as I know the true pain of it all will all be worth it in the end of a successful pregnancy. Good Luck To You All

[sara_jane]

HELP!!! I have recently decided to do a surrogacy for a friend of mine which will mean i have to have IVF with a donor egg!! I was wondering if those of you who have had donor transfers can tell me what I will have to go through before the procedure, as far as hormone shots and other stuff??  
                                                                      Thanks sara

[Lola59]

Hi,
Did you end up going with a donor. I was 44 when I decide to go with a donor. We only ended up getting one good egg  which ended up in our little baby girl. I had one shot at it and it worked. I am now 46 yrs. we went with a another donor because we had no frozen eggs. I am 6 days after ivf Iam hoping that I will get a postive. Please let me know what you decided. Because of my age my eggs were not good that is why we wnet with a donor.

[Shansen1984]

I produced 35 eggies with 20 embros with my first donor cycle. The couple has their baby in November! I got preggy after my first cycle..had my son in Jan 08' and am about to cycle for a couple on IVF#3. I am their first 'proven' donor so I hope all works out!!!!
I find myself stressing though..if there is no positive outcome I am going to freak out! Especially after having my son I am soso nervous for them.
I just wanted to give you ladies the' other side' of donation from a donor's view.
Best of luck to you ladies!

-Suzi

[maddie1]

I wish you luck in your decision.  I'm 43 years old and 9 weeks pregnant with donor egg.  I had two failed IVF cycles (converted to IUI when I didn't produce enough eggs) and actually got pregnant with the first IUI, but miscarried because the embryo stopped developing.  I had to have a D&C after that, but surprisingly got pregnant naturally the very next month, but again, it didn't develop.  It was those two undeveloping embryos that convinced me that my eggs had deteriorated too much and to consider egg donor.  Not that it was aneasy decision - there is definite truth to the thought that you mourn the loss of your genetic child.  But once we found the right donor, I was able to get excited again.  And I've done lots of reading and especially liked the article that talked about how the bonding begins while the child is in the womb.  They've done studies that show the baby's heart rate picks up when it hears it's mother's voice!  And you are the one who sacrifices while pregnant and does everything possible to ensure the best environment for your baby. Just because the baby can't be genetically mine, doesn't mean that I don't still feel lucky to be getting a baby that's half my husband.  There is a reason I married him, after all!  By the way, I didn't get pregnant with my first donor embryo transfer, but did on the frozen transfer....I wish you happiness and luck.

[maddie1]

And to you, wonderful egg donor!  Thank you from those of us who have gone this route.  Your selflessness is amazing and it is SUCH a gift. I don't know my donor but will appreciate her always.

[chrystal127]

You all have been a great inspiration!!! Two years ago I got pregnant through IUI (first try).  I miscarried at 6 weeks.  We tried it again for 3 more times, with no luck.  I decided to take a mental health break for a couple of years.  At 41, I am really ready to be a mother.  I've been wrestling with fostering a child, adopting or trying IVF with donor egg.  The bottom line is that I want to experience that bond between a mother and her baby while in the womb.  I want to experience the big belly and all the wonderful things that go along with being pregnant.  I realize that I have used my two dogs as a substitude for children.  I am so glad that I found this forum because I can talk about infertily to people who have gone and who are going through it.  It is great to read about the success stories because it gives hope to others.  Thanks again and keep up the post.  Lots of love and blessings to all of you out there.

[sprout1029]

i am 44 yo, tried iui, just complete my first cycle of ivf using donor egg,  my donor produced 16 eggs all mature, dh was able to fertilize all, transfer 2 and have 12 frozen.  my e2 and progestrone levels are good but hcg (beta) less than 1 that was 5-2 but my RE wants me to continue the meds until monday and have a 2nd beta test.  it has been so hard to do the injections knowing that come monday beta will most likely be neg still. 14 day post transfer today.   my question was if anyone has had sucess with frozen transfer.  i am so happy to here that chrystal has.

[Robin414]

It is mother's day and I am undergoing my first DE cycle.  I am 44 and DH 42, TTC 1 year.  We got pg Aug '07 and failed to develop, so D&C in Oct.  Picked first donor, but she was rejected in spring.  Chose another donor (who we prefer) --retrieval was yesterday--35 eggs and 33 fertilized!  Transfer on Thursday!  I am mourning the genetic loss, as happy as I am.  I would be very interested in any articles that deal mothering a DE.

[astrocat88]

First, Suzi.  Thank you for being a donor!   I will use donor eggs this May and we are so excited!  You and other women like you are making an incredible dream come true for so many couples.  We will never meet our donor but I wish I could at least once to tell her how thankful I am.  

AB - I really liked your calm story of being a donor recipient.  It is so easy to get so nervous ( I know!).   Stories like your own do wonders for women like me who are going through this process!  Thank you!

[Suzeq44]

Hi everyone,

I'm new on here. I was 39 when I met my husband and we both knew right away that we wanted kids and that age was going to possibly be a factor. We tried 3 IUI's, one worked but ended in m/c at 7 weeks. We tried 3 more IUI's and one IVF without success. All this lasted over 2 years. I had no other issues than age and I would stimulate really well. When we did my IVF, we had 6 blasts by day 5 and they put all of them in but none took. That's when I accepted the fact that even though you can have lots of eggs, the chance of one of them being good at now 41 years old were very slim. Even if one implanted I was told the take home rate was about 5%. So, we went the adoption route and went through all the red tape, put our profile in with some domestic agencies and waited. Nothing happened while we watched everyone around us getting pregnant (including my sister in law who was 41). I was happy for her but sad for my hubby and I. We had considered a year prior doing a donor egg and I think not having any luck with the adoption route and my sis-in-law getting pregnant, we decided to look at the donor egg route again. The entire process from the time we chose our donor to the time we went to Mexico through a company called Elite IVF was only a few months. They took care of everything for us and made it as stress free as possible. With all that said, we have been successful and I am about 6 weeks pregnant. Early days yet but our first ultrasound in on May 21 to look for the heartbeat. I also have a friends friend who got pregnant with twins using the same company. They havea  great success rate and because it's not in North America it's less expensive. It was an evolutionary journey for me to move from wanting my own genetic child to the point where I realized I would love a non-biological child just as much but I'm so glad I was able to emotionally get to this point. I pray that all will go well and wish you all luck on your journeys.

[jlbf]

Hi -- I had chemotherapy at age 22 for Hodgkins, entered into the perimenopausal phase at about age 27, married at 33, and was in full blown menopause when we tried our 4th IVF with donor eggs in March of 2010. I am 6 months pregnant with twins.  However, the three previous IVF rounds and one "mock" cycle taught me that the hormonal crash at the end of a IVF cycle can be SEVERE.  On my last unsuccessful round, I was so incapacitated with what was clearly a chemical imbalance, that I could not function and was hearing voices.  I am DESPERATE to find any advise that I can from menopausal women who have become pregnant and delivered via egg donation.  My OB is having trouble just assuming that I will have postpartum depression, however I am certain after my previous experiences that this will be even worse than what I experienced after IVF.   If anyone is out there with similar experience, please advise.  Thank you!

[SimonandMaya]

I believe that a mother is a mother even if the baby is born via donated embryos.  The mother is nurturing the baby during the whole pregnancy.

[Hope1570]

You are very lucky to get 33 fertilized. I just did 1st round with DE, we got 4 follicles, 2 follicles dissapeared on E/C, 2 eggs collected, 1 didn't fertilize, we ended up with 1 embryo egg 3 cells. RE decidd to do transfer on day 3 with this 3 cells embryo. I am now on day 6 post transfer. Don't feel anything. Chance is low but want to keep the hopes up.

ME : 41
DH : 50 ( vasectomy)

7 D/C due to unwanted pregnant. How ironic!!!
4 failed IVF. Poor responder, Poor Quality, Thin Lining.