How Much for Donor Eggs if using your IVF Clinic

ladyp0tter · December 2019

I was not considering egg donation until now. I am 44 and have had 2 failed rounds of IVF with retrieval of my own eggs. No good embryos. RE suggests that any further retrievals will likely result in the same output. That being said, my last shot to give my husband a child of his own, is donor eggs. Since we have already shelled out over $50K this year for IVF...the thought of starting over for a donor round is a BIG PILL to swallow. It seems it is cheaper if you use the donors that the clinic you are a part of rather than going to an agency and really narrowing down what you are looking for. I found a donor on their site that seems to match the qualities I am looking for and am working with them on finding out what the price for a batch of the frozen eggs would be (not doing a fresh round - to avoid paying for their "trouble" and meds etc.).

If you did something similiar...would you mind sharing your general costs with me? THANK YOU!!

ladyp0tter · December 2019

I did get the packet from my clinic yesterday and for a shared program with 6-8 eggs, it looks like it would be about $20K. I am now debating doing a donor program in Czech Republic instead....only about $5K (+ travel costs).

jusgigi · December 2019

What is a shared program?

chichiphin · December 2019

@ladyp0tter **lurking** to say you might get more info from reddit on this - the subreddit r/infertility has some AMAZING information & the women there are very insightful.

ladyp0tter · December 2019

@justharrison - a shared cycle is where two recipients would share a donor's eggs for cost savings. That way they can stimulate someone one time but the eggs would be split between them. Assuming a good egg count, that could be great for people like me who only want 1 child.

andreamm31 · December 2019

I went to 2 clinics in my area and using a fresh cycle with Donor Eggs was going to be between $40,000 and $65,000! Just absolutely insane! Im in the same exact boat as you. We had 2 failed IVF cycles where the first time they got 1 egg that fell apart immediately and then next cycle we got 2 eggs that were fertilized with ICSI and nothing happened at all...thats how shitty my eggs are. So we started looking around for donor eggs and looking at profiles of women. Then I realized that after spending $25,000 already, we just couldn't spend another $40 grand, so we looked into Prague. We have been communicating with Unica Clinic in Prague and really like them so far and have our Skype consultation on Monday. you only have to be there for 7-8 days! Its $6300 euro there, but you can go to a clinic in Zlin and it is $4800! We are choosing the more expensive option for the convenience of being in the city and closer to the airport as Zlin is a couple hours away. I never thought I would be doing something like this but the more we research, the better it sounds. Plus, I was getting kinda depressed looking at profiles and pictures of these women and really like that they won't show you pictures because of how anonymous they do their donors. I like that I won't have an image of another woman in my head when I look at my baby. I believe we are planning to go sometime in March once I get my period that month. We are doing an ERA cycle with our clinic here so we have all the information we need before we go. Good luck and keep me updated!

vetgirl2011 · December 2019

I just did a shared fresh cycle with DE. We got 12 eggs, and 6 made it to blast. We transferred one and froze the rest. Our cost was about 12,000 plus my meds. We did fresh shared because it was only about 1000 more than a batch of frozen. I am in Indiana. Good luck!

ladyp0tter · December 2019

@andreamm31 - Thanks so much! I can't wait to hear about your progress!! My DH has until January 5th to make a decision! lol. I think we are leaning toward doing it, but it's great that you have been talking to a clinic already!

andreamm31 · December 2019

We just had our Skype consultation this morning and we are really impressed so far with how prompt they were on calling us at the exact minute we agreed to our "appt" and how thorough they were with the consult. It got us really excited for moving forward. Hopefully you get the answer you are looking for from DH!

ladyp0tter · December 2019

@andreamm31 - Yay! With your info so far, this place will be a top contender. Who else (if you don't mind) did you consider?

andreamm31 · December 2019

@ladyp0tter. I initially considered Spain as I saw a lot of women on my other IVF forum post about Alicante and great success rates, along with the fact the flight was much shorter since I am coming from San Diego. But their prices were at minimum $4-5000 more than in other parts of Europe. Then we thought about where we would want to go on vacation. We saw that Ukraine, Cyprus, and Greece were all places for medical tourism for IVF, but we didn't want to go to Ukraine with everything occurring there with Russian aggression (plus my husband has a top secret security clearance working with military (but he is now a civilian) and has to disclose where he travels and we didn't think they would approve him to go there or would advise against it. And we went to Greece on our honeymoon, so wanted to go somewhere new. From my understanding, Czech Republic is a leader in Europe for IVF and they have 39 clinics and the biggest donor base. My clinic has 2000 women in their database! Then selfishly, we realized that Czech women are some of the most beautiful women in the world, and who wouldn't want their kid to have a genetic mother who is very attractive. And their laws are uber restrictive and anonymous in regards to egg donation and after looking at hundreds of womens pictures here in US on egg donor registries, we decided we liked the anonymity of not seeing her picture so when I look at my kid, I will see me, not another woman. We are all in on this clinic and this country at this point. It is a lot of work getting everything together and to them, but it will all be worth the hassle. For instance, my doc sent them her ultrasound report and her pictures, but just this morning they said the pics are too small and they want her to fill out their form which is easier for them to read. I don't know how we will get bigger pics unless I somehow do some messing around with scanning them and enlarging them. So I go in for my ERA today and will let my doctor know we need to repeat the ultrasound and report in January. but I think this will make my RE even more comfortable knowing they are being so thorough. We also have some things to do before we go. I need a repeat PAP because it is over a year old, my husband will be STD tested when we get there. And he needs a repeat semen analysis as they want to make sure nothing has changed since June. And my RE will monitor me here and I will just pay as I go with ultrasounds and labs and etc. It will still be wayyyyyy cheaper doing it all this way. We anticipate at most, a few thousand dollars extra with whatever ultrasounds and visits I need with my doctor here. Way better than over $50,000

ladyp0tter · December 2019

That sounds great. I am hoping to be able to do all this without involving my RE again, but I will do what is necessary. I guess the U/S we need are the lining one right?

My husband said the same thing about the Czec women being beautiful!! definitely a bonus! I have not had an ERA done, and since I got pregnant in my last round (even though it didn't stick), I am thinking I am generally receptive. I have had other kids too, so likely that is ok. Its been since May since my husband had all his testing done so sounds like they will want a repeat which sucks. That was over $600 last time!!

That's cool that your RE is looking at her U/S! Is that for follicle growth?

Thanks for the information. I'd love to connect with you privately so that we can keep up with each other.

andreamm31 · December 2019

@ladyp0tter. I think that I am pretty lucky that my RE is really sweet and supportive. I bet I could probably go over there without continuing to see her, but if they need anything that she can provide, like this next ultrasound, then we will need to keep the lines of communication open. Plus, I don't want to have to wait for my OB to follow me after week 9, I know I will want an ultrasound sooner to make sure things are progressing once Im pregnant.

Thats crazy your husbands tests were so much! My husband has Tricare and the VA so they generally cover everything. And its just the semen analysis. They told me this morning they will do the STD testing when we get to Prague. And it sounds like you are good to go with having already had some successful pregnancies. We are doing the ERA to make sure we don't travel all the way there just to be off by a day or two in our timing. My AMH is super low and my periods have been quite erratic the past few months with all this fertility stuff, so I need that confirmation of when is the optimal time to transfer. Im actually super nervous about this ERA now....I keep reading other posts about how crazy painful it is. I just hope it is just the moment of biopsy is the pain and not a lingering one afterwards.
I think the Czech doctor wants to see a good view of my uterus so she knows what she is working with. Looking at lining, shape, etc. I barely have any follicles left, so I know that isn't really that important to her at this point.
How cool would it be if you did decide to go to Prague and ended up there the same time as us?!?!
And I did find you on Facebook and sent a request!

[Deleted User] · January 2020

Hi everyone.

im wondering if anyone may know the answer to this. Obviously donor egg IVF is extremely expensive, it cost us close to $40,000 after all the fees involved.

does anyone know if any of these costs are tax deductible? If so, which costs? Thanks in advance.

andreamm31 · January 2020

Did you happen to also post this question to What to Expect because I just answered this question and I think its you. but I will copy and paste what I wrote

I asked my uncle who is a CPA and he said that all costs of IVF, including if you use a donor, are tax deductible. His words were " here is the good news....expenses to obtain and egg donor including agency fees, donor fees, the donors medical and psychological testing fees, insurance paid for post procedure donor assistance and the legal fees for preparation of the contract with the donor."

That was my big concern too. But, the first 10% of your expenses, you cannot write off. So if you and your husband make $100,000 each, you cant write off the first 20,000, only the last $20,000.

laurad75 · January 2020

I was just about to share the same information as @andreamm31. I asked my husband to remind me why we were barely able to deduct anything and the reason was we spent exactly 10% of our income - how annoying is that?!

andreamm31 · January 2020

@laurad75. Ughhhh, that is so annoying and such a dumb rule. We had our clinic in Prague give us the invoice for our donor egg cycle in December so we could pay ahead and use that money to bump up our tax return so we can pay off what we put on our credit card. haha.

nken20 · January 2020

@andreamm31 so you can have taxed deducted even if you had treatment abroad? I didn't consider that. I had my donor egg from Cyprus. The clinic I went to Dunya IVF offers it for 5k euros. So I can still use this for taxes? It was done in July last year.

andreamm31 · January 2020

@nken20. I don't see why not. If you spent money on medical expenses, I don't think it matters where you spend that money.

Imajin99 · February 2020

Just joining this chat as I have communicated with @andreamm31 in another thread and we are going down the path of donor egg and looking at possibly going overseas however every time I read what is involved I start thinking it may be too much trouble. @nken20 how was your experience at Dunya? I have looked into this clinic along with Unica in Czech and one in Spain.

ladyp0tter · February 2020

@imajin99 - I too am using UNICA in Czech. We will be going in May/June!! I think the process so far has been very simple. The major hurdle for me was getting my RE to agree to do the ultrasound prior to Donor retrieval before I fly over there, but so far, they have done everything I have asked (new Ultrasound to check for cyst last week and bloodwork requested by the Czech clinic for TSH and Prolactin). On day 10 once my cycle starts, I will go for another ultrasound at my old RE's office to look at my lining and then I can fly with my DH over to Prague. We will go to the clinic to provide his sample and then 5 days later...the transfer. In between, we can sightsee and enjoy our time in Prague. We will fly home 1-2 days after the transfer.

Imajin99 · February 2020

@ladyp0tter Thanks so much for discussing the process with me, I will be speaking to my RE and will see if they will support me if we chose to go overseas. Unica did advise they are willing to freeze the donor eggs so that travel will be a bit easier. Where are you flying from? Is it quite far?

andreamm31 · February 2020

@lmajin99 Im sure your doc will be supportive. I mean ultimately, you will be paying them, so Im sure someone will be willing to take your money for a 2 minute ultrasound. Mine charges $250!! Exactly what ladyp0tter said in her explanation on how it works is what we are doing too. Her and I communicate about our experiences with the clinic and both of us are impressed with Unica so far. The other cool thing is that they give you 2 years free storage of the frozen embryos. So if you need to go back for another transfer, at least you are not also paying for the storage. My husband is also going to give a second sperm sample (probably on the day of my transfer) so that we have frozen sperm there in case anything happens and we need a different donor or something, and this way my hubby doesn't have to come back the next time. I can go by myself or with a friend. He has a newer job and no PTO, so he is going unpaid when we go there. He wouldn't be able to do that twice or more. Im coming from San Diego and ladyp0tter is going from Texas. With a short layover, my travel time is about 14 hours to get to Prague. Feel free to ask any questions or bounce ideas off of!

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