Everything You Want To Know About Egg Donation

Lets be real, egg donation has your curiosity peaked. You might be thinking about donating, you might be thinking that women who donate eggs are amazing, but its not for you – whatever the case, you have to be curious as heck as to how eggs are retrieved and families are built? I sure am!

I’m the latter, I’m not an egg donator. I have always been curious though, as to how its done. I spoke to one of the pros of egg donation at ANU Fertility, her name is Marie and she has donated far more than 10 times! Here is what she shared with me about her egg donation experiences.

 

June 25, 2016 – Marie, Donator of Eggs 10+ Times!

 

Marcy – What requirements do you have to meet to donate eggs?

Marie – “Certain age..under 31, certain BMI (not sure of number) you need to have a clear medical history and same with family members, the ips want someone who looks like them typically is how they choose. I would say you would need to have some book smarts etc.”

 

Marcy – What medications do you take and how long do you take them for?

Marie – “Medications vary by person & situation. Typically the meds start on Day 2 or Day 3 of your cycle and you take them for 11 days. They are taken via injection (needle).”

 

Marcy – What appointments do you have to attend the month the donation is being done?

Marie – “You will be going to the clinic several times in the 11 days that you take your injections.”

 

Marcy – Are you told to avoid sex at all the month of donation?

Marie – “Yes sex 2 weeks before and after the start of Med’s. After retrieval as well.”

 

Marcy – How are the eggs retrieved? Is it painful? Does it leave scar tissue?

Marie – “The eggs are retrieved by… so you are given like a laughing gas/local anesthetic. They clean and then freeze your vagina/cervix… go in with an ultrasound wand that has a needled attached to it which is how they are removed. No scar tissue, it just feels very crampy.”

 

Marcy – Can a person still conceive after an egg donation?

Marie – “Of course you can conceive after.”

 

Marcy – Do you choose who your eggs go to?

Marie – “Not typically, its anonymous most of the time.”

 

Marcy – Do you get paid for your egg donation?

Marie – “No, you are not paid for egg donation. You can submit receipts related to your egg donation expenses, for reimbursement.”

 

Marcy – Do you have to live in a certain city to donate eggs?

Marie – “You can live wherever but you need to be able to get to the clinic several times before your even matched.”

 

Marcy – How many times a year can a person donate?

Marie – “There is no set number of how many times you can donate- but obviously the more times the more risk you are taking with several different things.”

 

Marcy – What tests to I have to undergo to donate? Are they invasive?

Marie – “Bloodwork, psych evaluation, multiple ultrasounds, pap test, STI testing. They are very invasive as you are obviously giving someone a part of you so they need to make sure you are medically sound and mentally sound.”

 

Marcy – Whats the average # of eggs retrieved? Out of the retrieved eggs, how many turn into actual viable embryos?

Marie – “typically around 10 are retrieved. Oh that’s hard to say everyone is so different and it depends also on the quality of sperm etc..Typically 80% Maybe a bit less.” [To add to this, some woman have many more eggs retrieved. Sometimes 30+ eggs!]

 

Marcy – Does egg donation mess up your cycle at all the following months?

Marie – “Nope not really“

 

Marcy – It just simply goes back to its normal cycle after the donation?

Marie – “It’s super easy. Only thing is your cramps are a bit more intense.”

 

Marcy – And finally, how do you feel knowing you are giving a part of you away, and you are not entitled to parental rights?

Marie – “*So technically i am giving away or donating a part of me so others who are less fortunate or different situations can enjoy and love such a special human being.
*I don’t look at it like they are a part of me really I more or less just think of it like this. I have an abundance amount of eggs so why not help others achieve the goal of parenthood.
* I do not feel awkward or anything as I know that the people who will be taking care of my eggs are in it all for the right reasons.
* There are also legal contracts that protect myself and family. That makes the process a lot smoother. I have a big say in how i want it to look or what i do and dont agree with and at the end of the day you have the final say.
* As far as not having rights, why would I? This is something that I have donated fully knowing that I do not have rights and I am perfectly okay with that. I think if I was to have rights then it would be a much harder process for me as then they are even more a part of me, if that makes any sense.
*I also don’t know who the other part is that makes up the child which again makes things easier.”

 

Thank you so much for your time and patience with me and all my million questions Marie!

 

**I’ve edited the post to add an example protocol for an egg donator. Each clinic will use their own amounts of medications and possibly different medications. This however, shows you just how intense egg donation can be. IT IS NOT intended to be used by anyone as a protocol. ALWAYS speak to your clinic!!**

 

START BCP: January 26, 2017

LAST BCP: February 13, 2017

 

If this is more than 21 days you will need to take 2 packs of active pills back to back, DO NOT TAKE ANY DAYS OFF OF THE PILLS between these dates

Your period may come any day after stopping the pill. It will not affect day 1 of IVF.

 

Please watch these videos prior to Stim Teaching date or Stim Day 1:

Gonal-F  (link removed for saftey purposes)

Menopur (link removed for saftey purposes)

Puregon (Follistim) (link removed for safety purposes)

 

Stim Day 1: FEBRUARY 20, 2017

¨ Bloods drawn and ultrasound performed – Please book ahead for your ultrasound

¨ Medications will be picked up

¨ Start Puregon/ Gonal- F subcutaneous injections at a dose of 250 IU’s in the am

¨ Start Menopur subcutaneous injections at a dose of 1 vial in the am

¨ Doxycycline 100 mg twice daily will begin for both you and your husband/male partner (if applicable)

 

Stim Day 6: FEBRUARY 25, 2017

¨ 7-9 am- Bloods drawn and ultrasound performed- Please book ahead for your ultrasound

¨ Puregon/Gonal-F and Menopur will continue. Bring your stimulation medications to the clinic but wait to do your injections until instructed by a nurse after your clinic visit.

¨ Orgalutran will begin approximately Day 6

o To be given each morning once instructed to begin, the first injection may be in the afternoon

o Provided in a Pre-filled syringe, given in the same sites as all other medications

¨ Please plan to come for monitoring on a daily basis throughout these dates.

 

Stim Day 10: MARCH 1, 2017

¨ Your last Orgalutran, Puregon/Gonal-F and Menopur injections will be on this morning.

¨ These are the usual dates for Lupron to be given you will be informed as to when and how to take it.

 

Estimated egg retrieval date: MARCH 3, 2017

The post Everything You Want To Know About Egg Donation appeared first on ANU Fertility Consultants.

source http://www.surrogacyincanada.com/everything-want-know-egg-donation/

Introduction to Me – The New ANU Blogger

Hi!

Welcome to the ANU Fertility Blog. My name is Marcy and I’m the new author for ANU’s blog. As such, let me introduce myself and share my story with you. I hope you enjoy it as much as it was to live it!

My husband and I have 3 beautiful, perfect children and we had them in a 2.5 yr time span. When our youngest hit 2 yrs old, I decided I wanted another one. My husband, not so much. The chaos of three small children in such a short span of time is overwhelming. Since him and I couldn’t agree on expanding our own family, I began tossing around ideas of how I could satisfy my maternal desire to bear children, but not bear children for us. Giving my own flesh & blood up for adoption wasn’t an option I would consider, the only other option I could come up with, was surrogacy.

There were so many questions running through my mind and not a lot of answers. None of it would matter anyway if my husband wasn’t going to go for it. I approached him one day and said I wanted to talk to him about something. I was cooking supper and he was right behind me. I had nerves…what if he said no? What if he reacted really negatively? I was terrified…but I forged ahead. I asked “How would you feel if I became a surrogate?” and he pondered it for a moment and said “you’d get to be pregnant, I couldn’t get you pregnant…and we wouldn’t have to keep the baby?” I told him “yea…” and he eagerly said “DO IT! Please do it!!” and that was that. It was decided I would apply to be a surrogate!

The application process began. First, I had to go through a phone interview with someone from ANU Fertility Consultants. Questions about my birth history, my mental health, my physical health & medical history, my family history and questions about my support network. How did my family feel about this? My husband? My kids? What were things that I was willing/not willing to do in regards to being a surrogate? Things such as selective reduction? Would I abort a baby with Down’s Syndrome? How many embryos would I allow to be transferred? Was I willing to carry twins? How many transfers was I willing to go through if one or more transfers failed? And the list went on…

Once my profile was completed, the next step was to be matched with a set of IP’s (intended parents). Matching is something that ANU helped me with. They looked at my profile and preferences then tried to find a couple whose desires were similar to mine. Then they, typically, introduce both parties via email and then each side has 2 weeks to get to know one another and decide if the match is a good one or if they’d rather choose another surro/set of IP’s. My case was slightly different.

In January of 2016 I had been with my surrogate agency for about a week and I was matched with a gay couple from Australia. It was a whirlwind of events that lead to us actually meeting them during their visit to Canada instead of an email introduction! My contact at the agency, L, called me one afternoon while I was shopping in Costco. She informed me she had the perfect couple for me, they were from Australia, and they were in the city as it so happened! Would I be willing to meet them that day? Their flight home was leaving the following morning, this was our only shot to meet in person!

I asked her if they would be willing to come for supper. The thought of going to a restaurant with 3 kids while trying to have an intellectual discussion, isn’t my idea of a good time. L wasn’t sure how comfortable they would be with the idea of coming to a strangers home (who can blame them??), in a strange country but she called them and asked anyway. Her call back to me was filled with good news, she informed me they were totally ok with coming over! This was really happening!

I decided to make Chicken Parmesan for supper that night. It was a freezing cold day and some hot food sounded comforting. They arrived at our home around 5:30pm and they weren’t what I had pictured. They were tall, slim, quiet, respectful and very laid back. My kids took to them immediately! They even brought a wonderful bottle of wine with them. I won’t say no to a nice glass of wine! While I was cooking, B offered to help with anything he could. Cut vegetables, place stuff in the oven, heck, he even offered to wash dishes! His offers of help resonated so much with my Mennonite roots.

We all sat down to a wonderful supper and enjoyed such great conversation. Turns out, we have a lot in common. They love gaming, so do we! They understand computers, my husband works in IT. They are familiar with obscure gaming systems & games…my husband is into all the old geeky stuff. It was like a match made in heaven. Even when it was bedtime for my kids, they sat down next to us on the couch and joined in story time. Both of them even participated in bedtime prayers! I was so impressed with them and how respectful they were of us and how we do things in our home. I was absolutely smitten with them and the concept of carrying their baby. They left our home 6 hrs after arriving and it was like saying goodbye to old family friends we had not seen in 10 years. My husband and I felt so right about them, we knew as soon as they left, that we wanted to be their surrogate family. I was filled with excitement and nervousness! What if they didn’t feel the same way? I wouldn’t be able to find out their answer for a couple of days at least because their trip home was about 28 hours long and I was on pins and needles the entire time I waited.

A few days later, L informed me that B&N had contacted her and shared with her that they really liked us! They wanted to move forward with us as their surrogate family! I was over the moon. They are some of the nicest people I have ever had the opportunity to meet and felt privileged that they chose us too.

Once we were officially matched, the clinic screening process began. It had two parts, medical screening & psychological screening. I did the medical screening first. I was emailed requisitions for bloodwork from the reproductive clinic in Toronto – things such as testing for HIV, any sexually transmitted infections, my blood type and hormone levels to determine where in my cycle I was. Once those results all came back to the clinic, I was booked an ultrasound and a physical at the clinic itself, in Toronto.

I flew to Toronto in February 2016 for the medical screening. I had an internal ultrasound performed looking for things such as polyps, fibroids or anything to indicate that my uterus would not be ideal for a pregnancy. The tech found nothing and the ultrasound results were great! The Dr. performed a fairly non-invasive physical to determine my physical health & capability to carry a pregnancy. We also had a discussion to determine timelines for legal contracts to be completed so that transfer could be performed. His request was transfer on April 8, 2016 and I would have one needle towards the end of February 2016, then medications would begin end of March 2016 to prep my body for the transfer. One of the nurses went over my medication protocol with me, handed me a giant bag of the medications (including needles) and sent me on my way. I flew home a few hours after my time at the clinic.

The next portion of the screening process was psychological. Both my husband and I had to speak with a mental health professional that was provided by the surrogacy agency. The point was to ensure that I had a good support system, we both weren’t experiencing serious mental health issues. Once we both passed that portion, we were considered “cleared” and the plan to be a surrogate went into full gear!

Early April 2016 my husband and I flew to Toronto for transfer. The morning of April 8 I went in to the clinic, they performed the IVF transfer of 1 embryo, had me rest for 30 min in a comfy chair and sent me on my way! It was that easy. Now, it was a waiting game. The dreaded “2ww” (two week wait) as surrogates call it. The 2 weeks until I would go for bloodwork to check my HCG levels. About 4 days after transfer, I started doing pregnancy home tests in the hopes that I would get a positive before the bloodwork. Sure enough, 8 days after transfer, I got my first faint positive on a home pregnancy test. I was elated! I could hardly keep my excitement to myself. I skyped with my IF’s that morning and shared the news. They were ecstatic! Now, the hope was that my levels would keep increasing and the pregnancy would continue as a healthy pregnancy.

And that is exactly what happened. I continued my medication protocol until 12 weeks gestation. After that, the fertility clinic we used in Toronto released me from their care and it was now up to my body to continue the pregnancy. And it did, it did it very well. I had one minor complication at 30w6d – too much fluid and it cause my body to experience threated pre-term labor. My fluid level was back to normal by 34w thankfully. A short 4 weeks later at 38w gestation my body started showing signs of preparing for labor and at 11:28pm that same day, Baby A was born. One of his daddies was here for the birth, the other one was in Australia still, but he got the first flight out that he could! It was such an amazing birth. And a very fast one. From start to finish was less than 2 hours. I was so proud of myself and so happy for my IF’s (intended fathers). They had a beautiful baby boy and I helped them achieve their goal of having a family, there is no better feeling in the world.

My surro baby is now almost 7 months old. He is a happy, calm, laid back kid. He is so very much adored by his Daddies, Aunts, Uncles, Grandparents & Cousins. I will be forever grateful that they allowed me to be a part of building their family.

 

 

 

The post Introduction to Me – The New ANU Blogger appeared first on ANU Fertility Consultants.

source http://www.surrogacyincanada.com/introduction-new-anu-blogger/