30 replies to this topic

[#3@44]

Just thinking about the possible future and wondering how it works - seeing how we have so many legal issues up here (i.e. cannot reimburse, cannot be anonymous). Any Canadian clinics have donor egg agencies? Also, how does it work getting DEs across the border?

[KittyKat]

I know of someone who went to the US and if we decide to go this route I think we will end up there as well. But i would be intersted to know of more experiences in Canada as well!

[Misconceived]

We went to Prague in the Czech Republic where it was a great standard of care (they do stuff far more advanced than in Canada) and dramatically cheaper than the U.S.

[Saffy]

I used a friend who although wasn't super young, she was a very fertile person with three kids of her own. Although the clinic suggested that I look at going the egg donor route they didn't do anything to help me find a donor. Basically I told my friend that my IVF failed and wasn't going to work without donor eggs and she offered to be my donor. So you can look at younger friends or relatives to see if they would be willing. I think you will be much more surprised at how many people would be willing. The counsellor I saw said that what some people do is approach it like a business - they put an ad on here and then in local parenting magazines and then narrow down their search from the women they get through interviews. Again I think you may be surprised at how many fertile myrtles out there who have loved being a parent and want to give someone else the gift of potentially becoming a parent.
It does seem very overwhelming at the beginning but once you have your donor selected, the clinic sort of takes over and tells you what to do. One thing that I found helpful in our second cycle was to have the donor do the cycle and then freeze everything and just do FET's. It is a little stressful because you don't really know going in whether you will get to freezing. But ultimately it is much less stressful than doing the cycle together. You also can reimburse the egg donor for her expenses related to the cycle but you can't compensate her. So you will be paying for the cycle, her drugs, her appt with the counsellor/psychologist and you can pay for or reimburse for any travel costs, cost for her missing work for the cycle or child care costs and other costs she may have related to the cycle.
Anyways let me know if you have any other questions. I'm happy to try to answer them.

Saffy

[muriel803]

I agree that finding a donor on your own can be much less expensive, but depending on the situation it can also be very very difficult. Of course, if you have a close friend or family member that is one thing, and can be quite wonderful - but if you just place an ad you do have to be very careful. (just my opinion of course).
There are agencies that work with Canadians, but do all of the transactions etc. in the States. Our Fairy Godmother for example, has donors in Canada in most provinces, as do a couple of others I am not sure of their names but they can be searched pretty easily on this site. The benefits of using a good agency are many (Again, my opinion). It is not cheap. The good agencies screen their donors very well (psychologically) and the donor has a very clear understanding of what she is getting herself in to. There is information provided (health, physical details etc.) which we appreciated. The legal contracts etc are done through the agency, as is all of the communication. I personally was too overwhelmed at the thought of trying to find someone to help us (no one came to mind except friends who offered, but were also considered too old), so the agency, while expensive, was a god send to us, and I would not have my two little ones if it wasn't for them.
If you want any more information, please pm me.

[PrairieBoy]

We have just finished a donor egg cycle in Brno in the Czech Republic. They charge 4,500 Euros (roughly $5,400) and this pretty much includes everything except medications for the woman receiving the donor eggs, and even this is much cheaper in the Czech Republic. All told, we spent in total $6,000 for the DO IVF and all medications. Brno is a beautiful city that has everything. We found a residence/hotel that averages out to $45 a night and that includes breakfast for my wife and I. It is easy to get to here as well. You can get cheap flights to Frankfurt with Airtransat.ca and from there you can come to the Czech Republic by train or by bus. Also, you can eat very decently in restaurants for a bit less than you would in Canada. So, for us, the Czech Republic had many, many advantages. The only issue is time. A woman should expect to spend 3 weeks in the Czech Republic, unless she can get a doctor to prescribe the required medications in preparation for the embryo transfer. All donors are kept anonymous by law in the Czech Republic.

[#3@44]

I also have a bunch of friends that have leftover embryos. Not sure how I feel about that but it seems like it would be easier.

[sharon77]

I also went to PCRM, and now looking into DE in Oregon or Seattle. I like Oregon because they give you baby pictures as well as adult pictures of the donors. I will be calling next week for a consult. I want to go with frozen if I can, since it is way cheaper, and we have spent enough on treatments.

[sharon77]

Praireboy,

Did your DE cycle work?

[Leapfrog]

We went to Brno, Czech Republic for donor embryos, but they have a donor egg program as well. The screening is excellent (they do karyotyping, check for Cystic Fibrosis and genetic diseases) and only accept donors who have completed or are registered in post-secondary education.

We'll find out next week if our transfer worked!

The clinic was understaffed during our visit so we were less than impressed with service day-of but all the pre and post care and quality of donor embryos was excellent. I am planning to return again if this cycle does not work.

[Leapfrog]

Oops, I should mention the clinic! Reprogenesis.

[sharon77]

#3@43

Have you received the report on your five eggies yet? wish you all the baby dust you can handle!!!!!

[sharon77]

We went to Brno, Czech Republic for donor embryos, but they have a donor egg program as well. The screening is excellent (they do karyotyping, check for Cystic Fibrosis and genetic diseases) and only accept donors who have completed or are registered in post-secondary education.

We'll find out next week if our transfer worked!

The clinic was understaffed during our visit so we were less than impressed with service day-of but all the pre and post care and quality of donor embryos was excellent. I am planning to return again if this cycle does not work.

Fingers & toes crossed for you:) Are you going to POAS or wait for the blood test?

[#3@44]

#3@43

Have you received the report on your five eggies yet? wish you all the baby dust you can handle!!!!!

Thanks for the kind note.

4 fertilized. One was immature. I am so relieved. I had maybe 7 - 8 follicles. Last cycle, I had 10 folllicles and got 3 eggs of which 2 fertilized. Embryologist thought we went too early that time. 10 days that time, 12 this time.

Plan is to transfer 4 on day 3 as long as everything makes it.

[Leapfrog]

Good luck 3 @ 43! Hoping for very positive outcome for you in the next few days.

Sharon, our clinic does super late betas... I'm 11 days past a 5 day transfer and STILL have to wait til Tuesday for my beta. I took a few HPTs... all negative except my last one yesterday morning - a FRER which "seemed" negative (after the 10 minute mark i tossed it under the sink). I looked later on that day and there was a pink line... not sure if it was an evap (since it was pink) or a very late-appearing positive.

So I am hunkering down until Tuesday's beta. It's annoying to have to wait so long though!!!

[PrairieBoy]

Praireboy,

Did your DE cycle work?

We did the home test yesterday, and my wife got a positive result. We have an appointment to see our doctor on Tuesday so we can do the blood test to confirm.

[sharon77]

Praireboy,

Did your DE cycle work?

We did the home test yesterday, and my wife got a positive result. We have an appointment to see our doctor on Tuesday so we can do the blood test to confirm.

OMG that is so exciting!!!!!! I have really been looking into going there, and finally have my hubby on board with it, but we are of still a little hesitant. Did you guys go through a IVF vacation agency or contact through the clinic?

I thought I had made my mind up for seatle, but the price and a vacation to Czech sounds much better:)

[sharon77]

Good luck 3 @ 43! Hoping for very positive outcome for you in the next few days.

Sharon, our clinic does super late betas... I'm 11 days past a 5 day transfer and STILL have to wait til Tuesday for my beta. I took a few HPTs... all negative except my last one yesterday morning - a FRER which "seemed" negative (after the 10 minute mark i tossed it under the sink). I looked later on that day and there was a pink line... not sure if it was an evap (since it was pink) or a very late-appearing positive.

So I am hunkering down until Tuesday's beta. It's annoying to have to wait so long though!!!

Your signature says BFN- I am sorry to hear that. I know as everyone on this board knows, how devstating it is. Big hugs to you.

Are you going to go back?

[Leapfrog]

Thanks Sharon. We will likely to do one more try with this clinic, but we also have a door open with a US embryo "adoption" program. We will cycle again, but aren't sure at this time whether it will be immediately or sometime down the road.

[PrairieBoy]

Praireboy, Did your DE cycle work?

We did the home test yesterday, and my wife got a positive result. We have an appointment to see our doctor on Tuesday so we can do the blood test to confirm.

OMG that is so exciting!!!!!! I have really been looking into going there, and finally have my hubby on board with it, but we are of still a little hesitant. Did you guys go through a IVF vacation agency or contact through the clinic?

We went straight to the clinic: http://www.reprofiti...dex.php?lang=en and it is Eva who coordinated everything. I don't really see the need for the other agency. A cheap option is to fly to Frankfurt and then you can go to Prague/Brno by train (bahn.de) or bus (touring.de). The bus straight to Brno is less than 11 hours. I love both Prague and Brno. Wonderful cities to spend time in.

I thought I had made my mind up for seatle, but the price and a vacation to Czech sounds much better:)

It is much cheaper, even when you factor in flights and even in another Canadian/American city you still have to live somewhere. The success rates are very decent: around 60% with donor eggs (two embryos transferred). Some other clinics might be able to offer success rates a bit higher, but IMHO not enough to justify paying 3 or more times the price.

[sharon77]

Praireboy, Did your DE cycle work?

We did the home test yesterday, and my wife got a positive result. We have an appointment to see our doctor on Tuesday so we can do the blood test to confirm.

OMG that is so exciting!!!!!! I have really been looking into going there, and finally have my hubby on board with it, but we are of still a little hesitant. Did you guys go through a IVF vacation agency or contact through the clinic?

We went straight to the clinic: http://www.reprofiti...dex.php?lang=en and it is Eva who coordinated everything. I don't really see the need for the other agency. A cheap option is to fly to Frankfurt and then you can go to Prague/Brno by train (bahn.de) or bus (touring.de). The bus straight to Brno is less than 11 hours. I love both Prague and Brno. Wonderful cities to spend time in.

I thought I had made my mind up for seatle, but the price and a vacation to Czech sounds much better:)

It is much cheaper, even when you factor in flights and even in another Canadian/American city you still have to live somewhere. The success rates are very decent: around 60% with donor eggs (two embryos transferred). Some other clinics might be able to offer success rates a bit higher, but IMHO not enough to justify paying 3 or more times the price.

thanks for the info, and I was hoping for that answer. Why pay for arangments when it can be done by yourself and the clinic. I just talked to a friend that was just there, and she absolutly loved it. She was there on vacation only ,but said she felt safe walking around at night, which I don't feel safe walking here at night (Vancouver) LOL

How is your wife feeling?

[PrairieBoy]

Yes, Prague and Brno are extremely safe at night and they are lovely with the cobblestone streets and the ornamental architecture. As they are both tourist centres, you can pretty much find somebody somewhere capable of serving you in English. My wife loved the selection of quality shoes in the stores being sold at very reasonable prices She is doing well, though she did worry that she isn't feeling any of the usual side-effects of pregnancy (sore breasts and nausea).... One of those signs that a couple has been suffering from infertility for too long is when the lack of morning sickness is something to worry about We are now on our third home pregnancy test "just to make sure" until we go see the doctor on Tuesday...

[sharon77]

Yes, Prague and Brno are extremely safe at night and they are lovely with the cobblestone streets and the ornamental architecture. As they are both tourist centres, you can pretty much find somebody somewhere capable of serving you in English. My wife loved the selection of quality shoes in the stores being sold at very reasonable prices She is doing well, though she did worry that she isn't feeling any of the usual side-effects of pregnancy (sore breasts and nausea).... One of those signs that a couple has been suffering from infertility for too long is when the lack of morning sickness is something to worry about We are now on our third home pregnancy test "just to make sure" until we go see the doctor on Tuesday...

One more day for you guys!!!!!
Eva has just contacted me with all the information, and there really isn't much to it, so I will get all my tests done, and get it completed. I'm impressed with the quick reply from her. She is taking patients for January. I rather go sooner, and not travel in winter, but I will do whatever I can.
thanks again for the info and reassurance. Cheap shoes-yahoo for shopping:)

[hopefulmom]

Just thinking about the possible future and wondering how it works - seeing how we have so many legal issues up here (i.e. cannot reimburse, cannot be anonymous). Any Canadian clinics have donor egg agencies? Also, how does it work getting DEs across the border?

I would try 'Little Miracles' owned by Robyn Price - in Canada...never mind the US to hard. This is an EXCELLENT totally anonymous agency they handle everything you just pay the money. You get to pick the donor by profile and photos. Just got pregnant with my donor. Love this agency. Legit plus plus

[hopefulmom]

Wow not sure why everyone is running all over the world to find an agency when we have a perfect agency here. They don't advertise. Highly recommend "Little Miracles" owner Robyn Price www.little-miracles.ca

Robyn just had a death in her family so be patient. Joanna does administrative. I used little miracles for my egg donor and I am pregnant 4 weeks just had beta 178. Went to Repro-Med in Toronto and Little-Miracles is in Toronto as well.

Good luck everyone but I HIGHLY recommend this agency.

C