New to board, not new to Infertility BFP, BFN and loss mentioned frozen egg question

Klang14 · March 2015

Hello...I am new to this board but not new to Infertility. I will try to remember all the acronyms and rules . I was on a board (baby center I think) 16 years ago and it helped my journey immensely!

I will try not to make this too long......

I have PCOS. I am 43 and I have 2 sons from a previous marriage that are IVF babies - (1 fresh, 1 frozen they are 16 and 12). They are amazing and I am so thankful for them!! I am newly married and my husband does not have kids so we would like to have one between us. He is 40 - he has low motility and erratic sperm counts, some high, others low. He is on Clomid to help w/both and seeing a urologist. Oh I also have him on Fertilaid and Motility Blend... .

We thought we would try to get pregnant last Sept after I saw my OB/GYN and got the all clear! As a side note I started taking D-Chiro Inositol and have been ovulating on my own for over 2 yrs!!! (nothing else worked - metformin etc) We turned up pregnant last Sept - first month of trying. The HCG levels were rising erratically - slow then double, then slow then double....and at 8 weeks there was no fetal pole, heartbeat, etc. I had a DnC in Oct 2014. After my beta went to zero we started our first round of IVF w/PGS testing in Nov. Miscarriage results were a bad sperm and a bad egg .

On 12/6/14 I went in for retrieval - they retrieved 30 eggs (i know this is a lot), 20 fertilized and 7 made it to blast for PGS testing. On 12/22/14 we found out that all 7 embryos were abnormal and wouldn't sustain life - all were due to maternal issues. We were in absolute shock and deeply saddened. To add insult to injury we now had a new $350/mo payment for the next 2.5 yrs and no baby.

We took Jan off, did IUI in Feb -- BPN!! We are taking March and early April off but have recently decided to go the frozen egg donor route. I'm not opposed to a fresh donor but didn't find one I like and frozen seems less risky from a backing out perspective etc. Once AF comes in April I will start estrogen to grow my lining and hopefully xfer in early May w/my husbands sperm.

I have not seen a lot of input on women using frozen eggs vs fresh so I am wondering if I am making the right decision. The cost is comparable - only a few thousand different and potentially you get more eggs with fresh but not always the case....so I wanted to see if anyone had some insight they could share on using a frozen donor. I am using Fairfax and so far they have been great to work with. I will get a cohort of 7 eggs from a proven donor and her thaw results + stats are excellent.

I hope to be a good friend and supporter to you all and my wish is that we all graduate on to whatever makes us happy....baby or not, 3rd party or not .

mm29 · March 2015

Welcome to the board. I personally do not have experience with frozen eggs, but I know @2MamazinSeattle does. Good luck with your upcoming cycle.

((Huge hugs)) You have been through so much!!

refeek1 · March 2015

Welcome. I, too, have not used frozen donor eggs, but wanted to wish you luck!

Klang14 · March 2015

Thank you ladies! Looks like we are all looking forward to some good vibes in May!!

e74 · March 2015

Welcome and I am so sorry for your loss. We did use frozen eggs left over from a fresh transfer. Unfortunately, none of the frozen egg transfers took so I'm not a good one to ask. I second paging @2MamazInSeattle.

chicagobride_07 · March 2015

Welcome and best wishes to you. I have done 2 fresh cycles with 2 proven donors. Both of these my RE had worked with before and knew how they stimulated, etc. Prior to cycling, he estimated 6-8 good quality 5 day blasts from both of them, and he was correct. I had success on a follow up FET after my first fresh cycle. We went back to attempt for a sibling about a year after the birth of my DD. I was so naïve, so sure it would work. As you can see from my siggy, we've had issues. I think we are now at the end of the road with attempts, but I am very grateful for my daughter.

I only briefly looked into frozen egg banks. I have insurance coverage, so the cost between fresh and frozen for me is fairly similar. In my brief discussions with one of the banks, I did not like that they guaranteed something like 5 eggs. Cheerfully they told me this is so you are almost guaranteed to have 1 blast on transfer day. When I am paying upwards of $16K, I'm not looking for just 1 blast. Maybe I've just been around too long, but I've seen so many instances of DE not working on the first try for ladies. Nothing is guaranteed in this process, but if I had to advise my BFF on this, costs being the same, I'd highly recommend either a fresh cycle with a dedicated proven donor or if she was dead set on the egg bank, doing some sort of guarantee program.

stinkerbell6879 · March 2015

Ok, so long story short, I have used fresh and frozen and have done both a fresh transfer and a frozen embryo transfer, and nope no baby in my arms at this time after all that. In my RE and my opinion we won't go the frozen egg route again, it is a wonderful option if you are working with a clinic who is well versed in this area of treatment, and or travel is playing a factor. Have you considered doing a shared cycle? I know it can seem tricky but you can cut cost and get the benefit of using fresh donor eggs. Good Luck!

Knottie4978096 · March 2015

Hi - I'm like you. 39 years old all tests normal, unexplained diagnosis. Yesterday, I found out all 6 embryos were abnormal. We retrieved 11, 6 fertilized naturally - the ER looked textbook perfect. I have a follow up with the RE tomorrow morning and we're expecting to talk about donor eggs as well. Clearly, my eggs are bad and unlikely to improve given my health and test results.

Klang14 · March 2015

Ladies....thank you all for the excellent feedback. Its a very hard decision and honestly I think the one thing that makes it an easier decision is that I have 2 biological sons already. I don't mean that to sound ugly by any means...I just think it softens the blow if that makes sense. Also I can honestly say that one of my sons doesn't look ANYTHING like anyone in our family and I couldn't love him any less than the son that does resemble me....a little odd I know.

I do have concerns about only getting 7 oocytes...my chosen donor's thaw results are really good so that is awesome. I'm pretty sure we only want 1 child together.....if I wanted more children my RE said that we should consider fresh. I do hope for blasts so we have an option but just don't know. A fresh cycle seems to have so many variables and I don't do well w/change

.

I have heard of a shared cycle but my RE's office hasn't mentioned it.....however they don't have any donors that come close to resembling me...which I would prefer. All are vastly different than me....not just a little....totally different skin tone etc.

Well ladies I have to write the check Monday.....eggs ship 4/14, AF should start ~4/22 and I start estrogen.......so I have until Monday to decide.....YIKES!

Best wishes to you all......Knottie please let us know your next steps,

Mrs.McIrish · March 2015

I don't post these days but wanted to chime in that my 4 mo old twin girls are from frozen eggs at RBA. I did 2 fresh DE cycles elsewhere and had a domor drop out mid-stim as well as a bunch of,other issues with the clinic. I had one miscarriage and BFN with fresh.

We then decided to do the live birth guarante frozen egg package at RBA for $28k. You get a lot back if nothing works and have 5 chances at the egg bank. We got 8 eggs from my donor, 7 fertilized. We transferred one on day 5 and froze 2. I had a miscarriage with the first transfer. We learned after that m/c that I needed lovenox due to 2 copies of MTHFR. We transferred the 2 frozen which were both day 6 early blast. No one, including me, had much confidence in them. I was already looking at new donors in fact. So it was the best surprise of my life that both stuck and are perfectly healthly.

I don't know anything about your clini. Not all frozen programs are equal. The first clinic I went to was starting a frozen egg bank and had zero success with it when I left in 2013. I would check the success rates --it's not published info as SART doesn't take frozen egg statistics so it's what the clinic tells you. Good luck.

Klang14 · April 2015

Thank you Mrs. McIrish...that is great news! I need to see how long my clinic has been doing frozen xfers...I know that Fairfax said that they have been working w/them for a year. Thanks for the suggestion....and congrats on your 2 little blessings!!!

New to board, not new to Infertility BFP, BFN and loss mentioned frozen egg question

Re: New to board, not new to Infertility BFP, BFN and loss mentioned frozen egg question

Choose Another Board

Search Boards

New to board, not new to Infertility *BFP, BFN and loss mentioned* frozen egg question

Re: New to board, not new to Infertility *BFP, BFN and loss mentioned* frozen egg question

Choose Another Board

Search Boards

New to board, not new to Infertility BFP, BFN and loss mentioned frozen egg question

Re: New to board, not new to Infertility BFP, BFN and loss mentioned frozen egg question