8 replies to this topic

[Tills]

Hi Everyone,

 

I'm new to this forum, first time posting.  My husband and I have been trying to conceive unsuccessfully for 2 years now.  We've been looking into IVF w/egg donation for a few months now.  The prices in the U.S. are astronomical, $35,000 is what we were quoted at one clinic.  In light of this, I have been looking into traveling to Spain to undergo IVF w/egg donation as their prices are so much more affordable; a fraction of the cost here.  I just started researching different clinics and there are so many factors to consider.  First of all, has anyone here gone abroad for IVF(w/egg donation) treatment?  If so, what was your experience?

 

In looking at different clinics I see the prices vary, obviously, but some clinics offer different packages.  One clinic, for example, guarantees 3-5 embryos w/their least expensive package.  Then, the most expensive package guarantees up to 5 blastocysts.  I understand a blastocyst is at a more developed stage, but do the chances of getting pregnant increase w/a blastocyst versus an embryo?  Also, what does the clinic do to increase the number of guaranteed embryos/blastocysts for each package?

This one particular clinic claims a 92% fresh egg donation success rate; these are very good rates and almost sound to good to be true.  Does this sound accurate?

I know the drugs/injections to prepare the endometrium are extra, but does the clinic mail them to you?  When it comes to scans to check the lining thickness, would I have my OBGYN do that?

Some clinics include in their package price the cost of qualification tests for woman/man.  What exactly do these tests consist of?

Is assisted hatching only needed if you want your embryos to reach blastocyst stage?

Has anyone here used embryoglue?  What are your thoughts on it?

Egg donors in Spain receive total anonymity, so the information recipients receive is next to nothing from what I've discovered.  Is anyone familiar w/the medical and mental health standards of egg donors in Spain?

 

I apologize for all of the questions.  I appreciate any information you can share. 

 

Thank you

 

 

[Seem14]

Hi Tills,

I don't have any experience with ivf abroad, but to answer couple of your questions.... a blastocyst refers to the embryological stage. Once your DE is fertilized, that union of egg and sperm is the embryo. And it goes to day 1-5, at most to 6 days. Assisted hatching helps with implantion. I had assisted hatching on both my transfers, and both times took. Hope this answers some of your questions!

[quandry]

Yes. 92% sounds too good to be true. Im guessing thats the success rate per batch, not per transfer. So you may need to use all your des to add up to that success rate... each clinic will report success rates differently. Id ask how they do it.

[SunshineTTC]

Welcome Tills - if you look for the Donor Buddies thread, there are many women/couples who went abroad, so you might get more info. There is also a Travelling Abroad for IVF section somewhere here which might be helpful. I did not go abroad/used DEB-USA for donor eggs because I was not comfortable with anonymity and complete lack of background information (but with a Canadian clinic, so clinic fees are cheaper here than in US). To answer some of your other Qs, in theory a blastocyst may have more chance of success than a day-3 embryo just because we know it's now made it at least to day 5/6 -- many embryos arrest and die between day-3 and day-5. Having said that, a blastocyst that gets transferred and leads to pregnancy in most cases would also have led to pregnancy if transferred 2-3 days earlier... it's the same embryo, just a bit more sure of its possible quality if it has survived a bit longer. But many blastocysts also fail to implant, or fail to lead to a viable pregnancy -- just because it survives a few more days doesn't mean it's chromosomally normal. Re: "92% success rate" no that does not sound possible at all, unless there are a whole lot of caveats attached to that claim. 60-70% success would be considered a very good/high success rate. There are way too many factors involved (many having nothing to do with the eggs), even a young 20-something with perfectly healthy own eggs, sperm, anatomy, timing etc does not have that high a chance of pregnancy per cycle. Re: Assisted Hatching, it can be done at any stage, I've had AH done on day-3 embryos before transfer -- this is done especially if the embryos were frozen, which causes the shell to harden so it helps the embryo hatch out after it reaches blastocyst stage. Re: Embryo Glue, I used it once on my last own-egg transfer, was not successful. I did not use it now on my successful donor-egg cycle. I don't think the evidence for it is very good. It's maybe in the category of "can't hurt/might help" so really a personal decision.

[Tess]

Hi Everyone,

 

I'm new to this forum, first time posting.  My husband and I have been trying to conceive unsuccessfully for 2 years now.  We've been looking into IVF w/egg donation for a few months now.  The prices in the U.S. are astronomical, $35,000 is what we were quoted at one clinic.  In light of this, I have been looking into traveling to Spain to undergo IVF w/egg donation as their prices are so much more affordable; a fraction of the cost here.  I just started researching different clinics and there are so many factors to consider.  First of all, has anyone here gone abroad for IVF(w/egg donation) treatment?  If so, what was your experience?

 

In looking at different clinics I see the prices vary, obviously, but some clinics offer different packages.  One clinic, for example, guarantees 3-5 embryos w/their least expensive package.  Then, the most expensive package guarantees up to 5 blastocysts.  I understand a blastocyst is at a more developed stage, but do the chances of getting pregnant increase w/a blastocyst versus an embryo?  Also, what does the clinic do to increase the number of guaranteed embryos/blastocysts for each package?

This one particular clinic claims a 92% fresh egg donation success rate; these are very good rates and almost sound to good to be true.  Does this sound accurate?

I know the drugs/injections to prepare the endometrium are extra, but does the clinic mail them to you?  When it comes to scans to check the lining thickness, would I have my OBGYN do that?

Some clinics include in their package price the cost of qualification tests for woman/man.  What exactly do these tests consist of?

Is assisted hatching only needed if you want your embryos to reach blastocyst stage?

Has anyone here used embryoglue?  What are your thoughts on it?

Egg donors in Spain receive total anonymity, so the information recipients receive is next to nothing from what I've discovered.  Is anyone familiar w/the medical and mental health standards of egg donors in Spain?

 

I apologize for all of the questions.  I appreciate any information you can share. 

 

Thank you

 

 

 

We went to Europe for ED, Greece in particular.  It worked for us on the first transfer, so we had a great experience.  

 

We did not use assisted hatching or embryo glue.   I do not know what embryo glue is.  For medicine and prepping the lining, you can go through a local fertility clinic or a local ultrasound/ blood work with pelvic requisitions from your GP or OB/GYN.  Medicines can be re-written by your local fertility clinic doing remote monitoring, or some OB/GYNs or GPs will re-write prescriptions.  

 

Most local fertility clinics offer remote monitoring & will re-write prescriptions for your country/local.  Call them up and make sure yours will do so.

 

My suggestion is to find a very well-regarded clinic with a great reputation, lab, ethics, and good customer service.  Feel free to PM me about my clinic.  Look to see if the clinic has a certification by the ISO international standards set by the EU.  In terms of medical and mental health screening it's important to find a clinic with good standards. 

 

In the US you can ask your local fertility clinic or OB/GYN for a Counsyl screening family prep test for single gene recessives for your husband/partner.  We did this with my DH. It's a simple blood test for the most common diseases that require 2 recessives.  The test gives comfort of mind that your child will not be afflicted with those diseases.   http://www.counsyl.com/

 

I went through a UK nurse coordinator who works for Spanish clinics in addition to Greek clinics.  Her fee is paid by the clinic she works for, and you can e-mail or skype with her for info about her clinics.  PM me if you want her e-mail.  Or, you can check out fertility friends UK, and look at their international section.  It's divided by country & clinic.  They've got a big section on Spain, because lots of women from the UK go to Spain for fertility treatment.

 

Good luck! 

[Tess]

On success rates -

 

I'd look for success rates of about 62-67% of pregnancy at 6 weeks.  

 

But, if the clinic regularly does pre-implantation analysis like CCRM in Colorado, you might, (and probably should), see higher rates of pregnancy at 6 or 12 weeks & live birth. 

 

Last I looked, the rates at the very best clinics were getting about 60-65% for the under-35 IVF age grouping.  Donor eggs are a pool of women in the under 35 age grouping, so that would make sense.  

 

FYI - European clinics generally do a lighter stimulation of medicine, so you should expect less eggs then some American cycles.  The lighter stims are safer for the donor, and some doctors believe the lighter stims result in a better quality of eggs.  

 

Good luck!

[BengalMom]

Hi Tills,

 

Oh man - I've done so much research on different clinics in Europe. What everyone else has said is spot-on, but I'll add that Spain tends to be quite a bit more expensive than Greece, Czech Republic, Poland, Cyprus and Ukraine (although the last two countries also have some shoddy clinics as well). The packages there are also really convoluted and confusing and out of all the countries I researched, you get the least donor-related information from Spain. They often don't even confirm anything about the donor until after embryo transfer (which seems a bit scary to me!).

 

If you get totally overwhelmed, you might want to check out the Fertility Friends board. It's really active and has lots of women from the UK who go abroad for treatment. Just a word of warning: people tend to get really attached to certain clinics there, so you need to take what they say with a grain of salt. But I found lots of great information there. 

 

Additionally, almost all of the clinics will arrange a Skype appointment with you pretty easily. Don't be afraid to reach out and talk to lots of clinics. It will help you cut through the shiny packaging. The exception to that seems to be the Czech Republic. They tend to consult over email. But lots of ladies here have gone to CR, so there's a wealth of information on these boards about traveling there!

 

Feel free to PM me any time if you want to chat!

[36andwantbabynumber2]

Try Canada, dont think they can charge for donor eggs

[schlepp]

Try Canada, dont think they can charge for donor eggs

They cannot charge but there are expenses For the donor. So it is still cheaper overseas. But I am sure that someone who has used a Canadian donor can speak to this more.