Anna decided to freeze her eggs and help another woman become a mother
I was 31 when I decided to freeze my eggs and at the same time help another woman to have a family of her own.
I wanted to improve my chances of having a family in the future and the egg share scheme allowed me to keep my savings and felt it was the best solution all round. At that time I had just come out of a long-term relationship where we had tried to conceive naturally but due to my polycystic ovaries, it didn’t happen for us.
My experience of sharing and freezing my eggs ran pretty smoothly. It all started with a counselling session with a fertility therapist to talk over what was involved in the egg sharing process and confirm that I had considered everything.
A visit to the clinic then helped me understand the whole treatment journey which involved regulating my cycle, starting the stimulation injections and monitoring the progress through regular scans until I reached the day of egg collection.
The nurse guided me through every step and showed me how to do the injections. These weren’t painful at all as the needle is very small, unlike when you get an injection at the doctor’s, you can’t actually feel the needles at all. I noticed a bit of swelling in my stomach, similar to what I get around my period, and I felt a bit more emotional than usual which may have been due to the hormones, again similar to PMT.
While I was taking the hormones, I went for regular scans, which were very quick and easy appointments. The doctor or nurse counted how many follicles/potential eggs I had in each of my ovaries and checked whether I was still on track to have my eggs collected on the originally planned date.
My egg collection happened while I was under sedation, I was pretty fragile for a few days after the collection, I’m not sure if everyone responds in the same way but I had a large number of eggs collected so my ovaries had taken on the hormones really well but were now recovering after the stimulation so my stomach felt tender and I felt as though I needed to rest for a few days.
The eggs were split 50/50 between myself and the lady that I shared my eggs with. Two of my eggs were not mature enough so I got 13 eggs in total which will be enough for at least one round of IVF when the time is right.
I’m now with a new partner but as we’ve only been together a year we’re not yet looking to start a family. Having fertility issues and being 32 now means that having my eggs frozen takes some pressure off the time limit of starting a family. I’d like to have another batch of eggs frozen to give us an even better chance once we’re ready.
Helping another family to conceive never worried me. I could have used my savings to freeze my eggs and not share them, but knowing I could help someone with this scheme and keep my savings was an easy decision to make.
A single female interested in egg donation
Key Benefits
The key benefits of this treatment journey at Herts & Essex Fertility Centre
Personalised Service
We offer a one-to-one service. Our patients feel that they could not wish for a higher standard of care and personal attention, whatever the outcome of their treatment. They appreciate our personal touch, attention to detail, accessibility and deep empathy for their personal circumstances.
Our very own Egg Donation team
At the Herts & Essex Fertility Centre, we pride ourselves on having an in-house Egg Donation team which helps ease donors’ experience and allows recipients to find the right donor for them. The team ensures that recipients’ and donors’ requirements are being matched in a very discreet and confidential manner.
Have you ever thought of egg sharing for no cost IVF treatment
Egg sharing anonymously brings together women who need IVF treatment for different reasons. One woman will potentially have the ability to make plenty of eggs during her own IVF treatment while the other is waiting for the precious gift of donated eggs to fulfil her dream of a baby.
It gives women, who generously wish to donate eggs, the opportunity to help other women and in return, it helps towards funding their much-needed IVF treatment.
Can anyone become an egg share donor?
Unfortunately not. Egg sharers are donating eggs to another woman and there are strict criteria in place to become an egg donor.
