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Welcome to IVF using an Egg Donor
If you would like to follow our journey when we pursue IVF using donor eggs, you may start here. At the bottom of each post you will see a small forward arrow (→). Simply click there to be brought to the next chapter. If at any stage you want to see all the posts available for this topic, just go to the teal-coloured column on the left hand side of the page and select IVF using an Egg Donor. Of course feel free to read the posts in any order you wish, read the ones that are most pertinent to you, skip as many as you like, you can always go...
read moreMaking the difficult decision to use an egg donor
At the time of writing, my partner and I are about to embark on our first round of IVF using donated eggs. It was originally suggested to us after miscarriage number three, (when I was thirty-nine) that we might have a better chance of a successful pregnancy if we were to use donor eggs. Egg donation is increasingly being suggested to women of 40+ as our own egg reserves can be quite low, and statistically lower egg reserves result in lower pregnancy rates, and also unfortunately more miscarriages from chromosomal disorders. With David &...
read moreHow we chose our clinic
When David and I originally decided to try IVF for the second time, (but the first time using donated eggs), we had no idea where we were going to go. The only thing we did know for sure was that we would not be returning to the clinic in our hometown of Dublin which we had used for our first round of IVF (using my own eggs, with PGS to test for more trisomies) – after a very sub-standard and money-hungry experience, we had been left with absolutely zero faith in them. So I started to look for clinics online. And what I did find rather...
read moreWhat we had to supply to the fertility clinic
We knew from our first experience with IVF back home in Ireland that fertility clinics require a number of blood and other test results from both partners before treatment can properly begin. The Czech clinic was comparable to our previous clinic in the test results they requested. Test results we were asked supply (results to be no older than 12 months): From both partners: HIV 1, 2 Syphilis (BWR, TPHA, RRR, RPR, VDRL) Hepatitis C Hepatitis B (HbsAg, anti HBcIgG) From Male partner (if using his sperm): Spermiogram. To include: concentration,...
read moreFinding our egg donor
Unlike many other countries including the USA and those of the UK, gamete donors in the Czech Republic are granted legal anonymity. We would not be able to chose our egg donor personally – she would be chosen on our behalf by the clinic. We could request certain physical characteristics but we would never see a photo, read a biography or know any personal details of our donor. We would be free of course, to refuse any donor they chose for us and ask for another, but we would have few grounds for either dismissal or re-selection. Having...
read moreTo scratch or not to scratch?
The first step in our donor egg IVF treatment programme was to sync my menstrual cycle up to that of our egg-donor. As our embryo transfer was scheduled for almost three months from this point, the clinic asked me to go on the pill (specifically a monophasic pill) from my next period. Being on the pill meant that I could stretch out my cycle to catch up with that of the donor’s. Both the donor and I had to start our menstrual cycles on exactly the 10th July – the first day of our treatment cycle month. The Czech clinic also...
read moreIn at the deep end
Our first IVF cycle using donor eggs began on the 10th July 2016. On this day, my cycle was officially linked with our egg donor’s. We might not know each other but we were walking hand-in-hand now. While our donor was starting her ovarian stimulation medications, I had the somewhat lesser burden of responsibility in getting my endometrium prepared and ready for our embryo transfer. While she was on a cocktail of hormones, some of which would require her to inject herself, I only had to take some estradiol tablets with a low dose of...
read moreHow many embryos should we transfer?
Day 13 of our IVF cycle – our Egg Retrieval Day. David and I both had our first appointments scheduled with the clinic today. He was due to be there for 9am to provide his sperm sample and I had been given a 1pm appointment to have another internal scan, for the latest assessment of my endometrium. Here is a quick reminder of our full 30-day IVF schedule: Day 1 Day 9 Day 13 Day 14 Day 18 Day 30 10th July: I should start my withdrawl bleed after ending the pill, which will also mark the first day of our IVF cycle. 18th July: Scan...
read moreWatching our embryo garden grow
Days 1-4 of our embryo watch – from Zygote to Morula. Day 1 The clinic regarded the actual day of egg retrieval as “Day 0”, so Day 1 was the following day. We had been promised that they would contact us before midday with the news of how many of our (eight) eggs had successfully fertilised overnight. They did not prolong the agony too much, just before 10am we received the news. They also attached a nice little infographic: “Let me please inform you that all 8 eggs have been successfully fertilized so now you have 8...
read moreEmbryo transfer day
Day 5 – Embryo Transfer Day There was no air-conditioning in our hotel (even though it advertised itself as a 4-star) and July in Prague is hot. I woke early and thought about the day to come. In a few hours I would have a tiny fragile life inside me. If the planets aligned this might be our new son or daughter. So no pressure then. Our daily email arrived from the clinic: “You have 2 blastocysts today.” Only two left from a starting stack of eight. But still, we had two. I dressed for the occasion. I almost never wear...
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