Welcome to 2015 - Make This YOUR Year
A new year often brings with it a sense of renewed hope and resolution to improve your life. For those struggling with infertility, the start of a year can be bittersweet. Holidays spent with family reinforce the lack of a child in the house. A new year can also mean that biological clock is ticking louder and louder.
It’s time to focus. It’s time to clear your mind and create space for creating your family via egg donation and/or surrogacy.
We at Donor Concierge know that when it takes more than two to create a family, it can be hard to know where to start.
Your first goal should always be to find the ‘right’ fertility clinic. Three factors make up what I like to think of as the perfect trifecta:
- success rates
- bedside manner
- and are they supportive of what is important to you.
Choose the fertility center with the highest success rate with donor egg is paramount to your successfully building your family. Look at how many egg donor cycles they do each year resulting in live births. I like to see a minimum of 30 egg donor cycles per year with at least a 60% success rate with the goal to be getting close to single embryo transfer as a general rule in their practice. Singleton births are still the most successful.
Interview the reproductive endocrinologist (RE) and her/his staff. I favor clinics where each RE has their own team that will be with you throughout the process.This means they will get to know you and you will not need to recount your story every time you come for an appointment. The bedside manner of the team is important too. You want to feel that you are not just a number. Great success rates are reassuring but you also want a clinic where you feel supported.
Choosing an egg donor is a very individual decision. You as the future parent are not just looking for the best egg donor, because it is never just an egg, you are looking for the best fit for your family.
Some clinics prefer that you use an egg donor from their internal egg donor program – either fresh or frozen. There are cost savings involved and the donor, and her fertility and health history, is known to the clinic.
But what happens if the donor you like from that internal program is already in cycle with another intended parent? I’ve seen couples devastated after going on a waiting list for a future cycle with that donor, only for the donor to decide that she’s done with egg donation. Or maybe the donors from your clinic just aren’t the right ‘fit’.
There are 80+ egg donation agencies in the United States, so it’s important that your fertility clinic is supportive of you finding a donor that you like and can relate to, be that from its internal donor database or from an outside agency. If the clinic you interview puts up barriers and tries to discourage you from working with a donor from an outside agency, it’s time to look for another clinic. Internal egg donor programs are often limited and may not have anyone that feels like they could fit into your family.
Finding the right donor is crucial to you feeling ready to create your family via egg donation and/or surrogacy. At Donor Concierge, third-party fertility is our passion – we connect you with the egg donor, agencies and clinics that are right for you and your family. We offer guidance and support throughout your third-party fertility journey.
Welcome to 2015 – a new year and a fresh start.
Interested in building your family with Donor Concierge? Schedule your free consultation today.
