IVF with Donor Eggs or Donor Embryos Community Group
Support and advice for those who need to use Donor Eggs, Donor Embryos, or Donor Eggs/Embryos with a Gestational Carrier for infertility treatment. Welcome all at every stage of this journey to Motherhood.
My name is Kristen, and I am 27 years old. My husband and I have been married for 8 years and have a wonderful 3 year old little boy who was conceived naturally. We've been trying to conceive #2 for 2 years now, with one miscarriage and we have been unsuccessful. My diagnosis is Diminished Ovarian Reserve and my ovaries are equivalent to a 45 year old woman's ovaries. We've been given a 5% chance of ever conceiving again using my eggs. This was very difficult to hear since I'm still pretty young and I did not wait until my forties to have children. It's been almost 6 months since our diagnosis and we are in the early stages of the IVF process. We've applied for a grant to help pay for the procedure and hopefully should hear back within the next month if we get approved. We've had all the testing done and if we get the okay on the grant which is pretty likely, we can start our donor selection process. I have mourned the loss of passing on my genes to another child and now we are very excited that there is hope for us to still have another child.
I do not know anyone who has had to choose to use donor eggs or even anyone who has undergone IVF so I'm feeling pretty nervous. I'd just like to know if anyone who has been through this process has any advice. I would also love to hear success stories!
I do not know anyone who has had to choose to use donor eggs or even anyone who has undergone IVF so I'm feeling pretty nervous. I'd just like to know if anyone who has been through this process has any advice. I would also love to hear success stories!
I just read your post and thought I'd write to offer some words of encouragement. It sounds as if you've been through a tough journey...as many of us in this group have...to mourn the loss of passing on your genes to a child. But, as you said, there is much excitement in the fact that there is a lot of hope to have more children using donor eggs.
My story is a bit different as I did not get married until I was 40 years old. My husband and I didn't get tested until about one year after being married. I was shocked to discover from the doctor that I had low level of egg production and that given my age, quality was in question. I was given a less than 5% chance of conceiving with my own eggs.
After much thought and consideration, we made the decision to move ahead using a donor. This was a tough decision but one that we felt very hopeful about. We got pregnant on the first try...and now we are four months pregnant with twins!!! We are so grateful to our donor and feel so blessed that God has given us this gift. Please stay positive and hopeful...the journey is emotional and challenging at times but your dream can come true! Please keep us posted on your progress. Best wishes!
Thanks for the response, Hopeful. Our doctor told us not to throw in the towel and that it is still possible so we did give IUI's a go for 6 months. I hope you have better luck than we did. I think since we feel like we gave it our all, we are now 100% sure that we want to use donor eggs. I try to remind myself that at least I have a healthy uterus to carry a baby full term and that there is an option for those of us who can't use our own eggs.
As I get further into the process I'll update our progress. I'm so nervous, and anxious to get started, hopefully soon we'll be able to get started.
We are probably going to try IVF again (out of pocket!), because I need to feel certain before I move on to DE. I responded well to IVF and I got a decent number of embryos, so I feel I have to try again just to see if I can get that one miracle egg.