Shared Risk?

sarahjeri · May 2014

Has anyone done shared risk with IVF? We have 5 embryos and plan on only transferring one so we are thinking of sharing, but I don't know anything about it, how it works, or what the legalities, etc. Any advice/comments appreciated!

MrsT4 · May 2014

From my understanding, the term “shared risk” applies when two or more couples share a fresh IVF cycle, most commonly an egg donor cycle, where they split the eggs and therefore offset some of the costs associated with paying an egg donor, etc.

What you are describing (I think) sounds more like “embryo donation” as you already have 5 frozen embryos and plan to transfer one in July. Assuming this cycle is successful and your family is complete, it sounds like you want to donate the remaining 4 embryos – is that correct?

While I’m no expert in embryo donation (I would refer you to @Liz4Paw’s blog for more accurate/complete information), I know enough that there are several types of donations possible: open, anonymous and perhaps somewhere in between. I also know that there is no compensation given to the couple donating, but you may be able to offset some of the costs (like embryo storage and legal fees) and you would certainly need a lawyer to draw up a contract between you and the recipient couple.

I would humbly advise you to wait until your family is truly complete before making a donation, as (I, unfortunately, know from experience) not every transfer results in a BFP or a take home baby.

That said, I think it’s wonderful that you are considering donating any extra embryos once your family building is complete. Wishing you lots of luck for your next (and hopefully final!) transfer.

Edited to add: I just realized that you used a "known" donor for your DEgg IVF cycle. I'm not sure if this person also needs to "sign off" on any future donations, but that may be something to look into. Best of luck!

J&D2007 · May 2014

The term 'shared risk' to me has always meant that a ivf clinic offers you a set number of ivf cycles and if they are not successful, you get all or part of your money back. Not sure how that would apply to your situation, but as pp stated you can ask liz4paws about the specifics of embryo donation. I agree that you should definitely wait til you have a baby in your arms before you make that decision. Good luck

Mrs.McIrish · May 2014

What the previous posters said. Not sure if you think you can get $ but you can't "sell" existing embryos to recoup some of your cost ( not sure if that is what you,meant but that's how I read it)

sarahjeri · May 2014

Definitely don't want to sell the remaining embryos @Mrs.McIrish! Sorry it was read that way. We are looking to donate like @MrsT4 mentioned. I just didn't know if there was something where the people we'd be giving them to would cycle at the same time as us - I guess shared risk was the wrong terminology - because we have multiple embryos frozen together. We're only using one, and I didn't want the other one in the same straw to go to waste. That is what I meant by shared risk - that they would share in the risk of the embryos thawing or not thawing correctly. I should have expanded on what I said before.

sarahjeri · May 2014

@J&D2007 that is good advice. VERY good advice.

Mrs.McIrish · May 2014

Lol, ok good!!! Just wanted to be sure! Hope you weren't offended. If you want to donate the other one frozen in the straw, I'd ask your clinic if they have a waiting list? I'm not sure how typical it is to donate one and for a specific transfer date?? But def wait to donate the others until you have your THB!

Twinkie0612 · May 2014

Have you talked with your doc about possibly refreezing your remaining embryos? We had planned on doing this with our donor embryos that were frozen together, but we didn't have enough survive to make refreezing worthwhile. We ended up just transferring all of our surviving embryos.

sarahjeri · May 2014

@Mrs.McIrish not offended at all! I will ask about the waiting list!

@Twinkle0612 we haven't talked to them about refreezing - I actually don't know if they do it or not. I'll ask that too.

I just hope that we could thaw some but not all of them so we can give the ones away IF we get a BFP.

lincoln79 · May 2014

@sarahjeri - not to be a negative Nancy, but here is our track record with FET

FET #1 - two thawed (same straw), both survived and transferred (BFN)

FET #2 - two thawed (same straw), neither survived no transfer

FET #3 - two thawed (same straw), both survived but only one really looked good (5AA), we figured we might as well transfer the other one too (stayed compacted and didn't expand). Both were graded the same at time of freezing. We are pregnant with a singleton.

Here is the kicker - we didn't know whether we would transfer anything until THE MORNING OF. It truly sucks. So, while I incredibly applaud you for thinking of others the reality of the situation/timing is tricky.

I wouldn't want to be the woman who has already taken drugs is ready for a transfer and then gets nothing because you happen to need both embies in that straw. I'm sure you wouldn't want that either.

I hope you can give some away eventually too!

sarahjeri · May 2014

@lincoln79 good point. I actually just found out that they froze our embies individually so finding someone now would be moot point... might as well wait until we are done like you said.

Also, I don't think you're being a negative nancy, just giving me the facts. And I appreciate it.

stinkerbell6879 · May 2014

Everyone has already made good points, so I am just going to agree and say wait until your done to figure out what to do with any remaining embryo's, because way to much can happen.

sarahjeri · May 2014

Thanks @stinkerbell6879

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