DONOR EGG Tmt Thread... " Egg-heads"

[jen babes]

hi all

just wanted to collect a gathering of fellow Egg-heads ...I know there are loads of ladies out there who are in the same place as me and now going through/ looking at donor egg tmt...

thought it would be good have a thread for us to share past, present and future cycles of donor egg tmt. Any shared info from others is helpful.

I have had 2 natural pregnancies, ectopics and then went through 1 cancelled and 2 short ivf cycles total of 3 embies and all BFN's. was given a 3% chance of conceiving with own eggs. So we looked at tmt abroad. Short listed was Insitutio Marques ( IM) in Barcelona. We had our 1st appointment there on friday 3rd Aug. Now in waitng for AF to start so i can begin meds.

welcome any posts from anyone wanting to join in or to give info...
clinics, advice, past experience, differant types of meds used etc....

much love to everyone

Jen
B
xxxx

BFP's for us all.

[/b]

[jen babes]

I know this might be deep for some people...
but i wanted to post this info. It was triggerd by a topic discussed on another thread ( thanks to carolyn & jen 1d) about egg donation but it does fit with sperm donation too. I remembered a book i read when i was going through DE counselling. I have looked out a highlight of it and another book. the topic we were looking at was about DNA and the baby looking like the egg donor... hope you find it interesting!!!!


"Identical genes...bet ya didn't know that 99.9% of genes are the same for every person on earth. In other words you all have almost identical genes. Most people are under the impression ( i was) that genes are very differant and having brown hair and green eyes means having green eyes gene. This makes logical sense but is not entirely correct. many of the differances at birth actually have LITTLE to do whether they have a specific gene or not( given that we all have mostly the same gene.) The differances are mostly due to tiny variations in single genes.

however this is only part of the story, because during growth in the womb and after birth the differances only begin to emerge due to specific genes switching on in some perorle and offf in others. Imagine 10 light bulbs. I might have bulbs 2,4,6, and 7 on and the rest off. while oyu might have bulbs 4 & 6 switched off but bulb 8 on. there are a number of factors that cause genes to switch on and off including normal workings of the body, diet exercisee, but throughout life our Numerous experiences and more importantly how WE THINK and FEEL about these experiences also cause genes to switch on and off...( sounds like PMA does deffo work eh girls,) So it's upt to the CARRIER (ie the woman carring the baby) ( in the beginning of life) what genes are switched on and off in the baby.

Excert from the book 'it's the thought that counts' by David hamilton '

another book The biology of belief by bruce Lipton "
prese scientific evidencene showing that genes and DNA do not control our body. Genes are turned on or off from signals outside the cell including the energetic messages emanating from our positive and negative thoughts...

i know this might all sound abit deep but basically it is saying that PMA counts for a lot in this as well as outer factors determining how the child will look. ie LOOKS ARE NOT PRE-DETERMINED BY THE sperm and egg collision like i once was taught in biology. THE GENES are switched on or off depending on my thoughts and the envirnmental factor bringing up the child.

You thoughts on this are most welcome girls

love jen
xxxx

[shantala]

hey JB

i'm not stalking you i promise!!! but just wanted to say that i think this thread is a great idea!!!

read that extract from that book and think its VERY interesting and makes a lot of sense. a lot of it comes back to the nature/nurture debate and i think a lot of so called "inherited" things are actually not "inherited" at all but are picked up by the child when being raised. so the whole light bulb and growing in the mother argument definitely makes sense to me.

anyway, just my opinion...good luck with this thread hun!

xxx

[jen babes]

Shantala
thanks for you input Hun...and i hope your Ec goes well tomorrow

much love jen
xxxx

[babyblue]

Awesome - Jen - Awesome!!!

I did not know this. This is extremely interesting. I would really like to read more on these books. This is really such a relief to me as being new to egg donation. I have struggled for some time with all those little things that I can't pass on - "but it seems I can!" Guess I thought all along that the baby would look or act like "her" and DH, but looks as if my body can influence many of the baby's characteristics (or light bulbs)

Thank you Jen for setting up this thread.

Have a great day,
Kim

[CarolynB]

Hi JB

Love the thread and of course want to join. Thanks for setting up. Think that we know of a few people who might be joining us already.

You know the story but for other..........we have had 4 failed Fresh attempts. 3 at Hammersmith and 1 at ARGC. We have done 2 long protocol and 2 short protocol. 3 ivf and 1 ICSI. In total we have had over 50 eggs collected, over 25 fertilised and 10 back on D2, D3 and D6. We were told on Friday that the eggs are very weak (fragmented and dark when they should be clear) and leaky. That dh's swimmers are not great. I have had a lap, tubal surgery (opened both tubes) and a hysteroscopy plus had every immune test done and our chromosones checked. I have stopped drinking alcohol, tea, coffee and fizzy drinks plus done acupuncture all since 1st failed cycle. And have still never ever got past D11. I have an auto immune disorder which may have damaged all my eggs and on the last cycle - 23 were collected and 1 was good. You get the picture.

Our chances with a Fresh cycle our very very low. They would not even give us a % but with all the issues we have they made it seem improbable. Even with the daily/twice daily monitoring I had at ARGC for my last attempt.

So we are going to go for DE. Might have to be double donation given issues with dh also. We have also plumped for IM in Barcelona based on hours of research & reading feedback on the clinic. Plus it has short wait lists and given our age, we need to crack on.

Our 1st appointment is 19th September. That is 6 weeks tomorrow. Not that I am counting!

Look forward to chatting with others in the same boat.

I will post something below that I found very helpful to get my head around the issue which is in a similar vein to the comments above. I hope it helps others.

Love
Carolyn
xxxxxx

[CarolynB]

Got this from another chat board.........and I found it very helpful to come to terms with the idea of DE. Hope that it helps others.


Epigenetics - Importance of Birth Mother
________________________________________
An article about epigenetics that referred to the influence of the birth mother on the genetic make up of a child born from donor eggs. .....

Genes must be ‘expressed’ within an individual in order to have an
effect.

The same gene or genes can express in a number of different ways
depending upon the environment. A gene can remain ’silent’ or
unexpressed; it can be expressed strongly; it can be expressed weakly,
and so on. There is also an entire field of study called imprinting
having to do with which gene you ‘activate,’ the copy you received from
your mother, or the copy you received from your father.

The field of epigenetics studies these phenomenon, and popular
journalism is just starting to write about it. While the Human Genome
Project was still underway, we usually heard genes referred to as ‘the
Bible’ of the human being, as a kind of absolute truth concerning the
fundamental nature of the individual.

That is now changing.

In a donor egg pregnancy, the pregnant woman’s womb is the environment.
It is her genes, not the donor’s, that determine the expression of the
donor-egg baby’s genes.

A donor egg baby gets her genes from the donor; she gets the
‘instructions’ on the expression of those genes from the woman who
carries her to term.

This means that a donor egg baby has 3 biological parents: a father, the
egg donor, and the woman who carries the pregnancy.

The child who is born would have been a physically & no doubt
emotionally different person if carried by his genetic mother.

In horse breeding for example, it’s not uncommon to implant a pony
embryo into the womb of a horse.

The foals that result, are different from normal ponies.
They’re bigger. These animals’ genotype – their genes – are the same as a
pony’s, but their phenotype – what their genes actually look like in the
living animal – is different.

........

The implication of epigenetics is that the child inherits characteristics from the woman who carries the child even if the original DNA comes from a donor egg. In other words the birth mother influences what the child is like at a genetic level - it IS her child.

Much love
Carolyn
xxxxx

[AMck]

Hi Jen ,what a good idea to set up this thread.
Just wanted to say hello to all ladies contemplating/undergoing DE treatment. I am happy to help if I can regarding donor egg treatment at IM in Barcelona. We got a BFP with our second transfer, Matthew is now almost 5 months old.
To all you brave and strong ladies, keep up the PMA. I have everything crossed for you. Keep the faith, miracles do happen

Hugs
Anna x
PS love the articles

[jen babes]

Hey eggheads

Kim welcome to the thread... I know about your tmt but it would be good if you could give the other girls on here some info info on your background and tmt cycle. Really glad to see you here

Anna thanks for the pm will ask about meds at Im as well as GP on wednesday. Thaks for your input in the past as well as on this thread. You will have loads of ladies pm-ing you now for all your info. We all hope to get big preg bellies soon and join you on the parents after tmt thread x x

carolyn- thanks for the added post of info on genes being switched on. It's amazing isn't it. I had read abut it all and competely forgotten until jen e-mailed me your post. Wow i am so glad i kept the info from way back then...it helps to have some available british books to read about this.
I didn't know you had an auto immune disorder...Me too. i had many symptoms after 1st and 2nd pregnancy but wasn't diagnosed with MS until 2005. Was told that it could have caused egg levels to drop. Although my eggs were okay the quanitity was low. Have been off MS meds for a month now and although really tired i seem to be coping ok. fingers crossed that this carries on until BFP!!!! (then as preg causes remission, for a while longer)

great to have you eggheads to talk to

much love to you all
jen
B
xxx

[jen babes]

EGGHEADS



BabyBlue (Kim)-

Carolyn-
Prior tmt 3ivf & 1 ICSI.
19th September 07: 1st appointment at IM, Barcelona

Jen Babes-
prior tmt- 2 natural pregs both ectopics, no tubes left, 3 ivf's all BFN. Given a 3% chance with own eggs.
IM Barcelona, Dr Monica Redondo
1st App IM 3rd Aug 07: Tests, uterus Biopsy, results due 31st Aug. Awaiting AF, due 29th Aug then E2 patches.

Thanks to AMcK (Anna) ( "oh Wise one") for all her inut, support and help with Donor Egg info. Anna had a BFP @ 2nd transfer at IM...Baby Matthew is now 5 months old...


BFP's For all



Please add your own updates by clicking on the QUOTE button at the top of the post, add your info, delete the [quote jen babes] at beginning and end of the post, then press submit...easy peasy!!!!good luck x x

[jen babes]

Good morning all

hope you all have better weather than it is here today...it's wild, wet and windy...More like autumn every day here???? Where is the summer????

Hope you like the list...feel free to add or delete as needed.

catch ya all later

love and big hugs

jen
xxx

[poochie]

Hi Girls

May I join this fantastic idea for a thread. Hi Carolyn fellow Hammer. My history is as follows: DH had cancer left him sterile, ICSI our only option luckly DH banked before treatment. 1st ICSI 2003 BFP DD born 25.04.2004, 2006 2nd,3rd BFN, changed clinic 2007 eptoptic lost tube. I have low number of eggs collected each time and division is slow so been told donor egg best option. 1st appointment with IVI Madrid 30th August.

Jen and Carolyn I could not agree more about the gene issue, My 3 year has many of my mother-in-laws trates and manorisims however my husband is adopted, but because my MIL spends so much time with us as a family my daughter is like her in so many ways.

Shantala - Hope your EC went well.


Vicki X

[CarolynB]

EGGHEADS



BabyBlue (Kim)-

Carolyn-
Prior tmt 3 IVF, Tubal Surgery & 1 ICSI. All BFNs.
Told that eggs are fragmented, murky and leaky as well as old
19th September 07: 1st appointment at IM, Barcelona

Jen Babes-
prior tmt- 2 natural pregs both ectopics, no tubes left, 3 ivf's all BFN. Given a 3% chance with own eggs.
IM Barcelona, Dr Monica Redondo
1st App IM 3rd Aug 07: Tests, uterus Biopsy, results due 31st Aug. Awaiting AF, due 29th Aug then E2 patches.

Thanks to AMcK (Anna) ( "oh Wise one") for all her inut, support and help with Donor Egg info. Anna had a BFP @ 2nd transfer at IM...Baby Matthew is now 5 months old...


BFP's For all



Please add your own updates by clicking on the QUOTE button at the top of the post, add your info, delete the [quote jen babes] at beginning and end of the post, then press submit...easy peasy!!!!good luck x x

[CarolynB]

Anna - thank you for your (continued) support. It is amazing to have someone here who has lived through it and been successful

Poochie - awesome to be on another thread with you. Having moved on from Hammersmith, we did not feel that we could go back there for the IVI + HH option. But HH brought you a great result on your 1st try so hope that they will be able to do it for you again. ARGC are going to help me this end with scans etc. Really interesting to hear about your MIL and daughter. All comments like this make it so much easier. Seems like I could be just a little way behind you so we may almost be cycle buds

Kim - welcome hun. Hopefully we will all be able to help each other

Jen - love the list. Even managed to do the add thing. That is so cool. Did not know that you could use quote like that? Thanks for seting up.

Talk later. I am at work and keep getting bored and dropping in here and hoping that people don't walk past my desk and see the smiles!!!!

Have a nice evening all.

Lots of Love
Carolyn
xxxxxxxxxx

[jen babes]

Hi all

Poochie/Vicki welcome to the thread Hun. Glad you are on boards with us eggheads. Congratulations at getting a BFP first time...And a little girl too. I love them at that age so full of the joys and full of questions. ( love kids at any age...well maybe not terrible teens ) Good luck for the 30th Aug...not long now just a few weeks away. We are in barcelona, and it was roasting hot. Bet ya MAdrid is more so. Can you fly straight into Madrid? and how many days are you going for????? We just went for a 1 night stay, but managed to see a bit of the lovely town before we fly back. An amazing city i can't wait to go back ( and return with a BFP!!!!!). Have updated the list for you but feel free to add or delete anthing you don't like....looking forward to getting to know you and hearing more about your tmt. x x


Carolyn ta for updating your list... You doing ok today? Busy at work?
xx

Kim how are you doing today????

as for me well i have had a bleed...2 wks early...Have mega cramps but like the past bleeds ( every 3-4 days month june-july then every 14 days in last month ) don't really know if she will stay. I am meant to take bc pills after next AF so will see...if she is still there tomorrow and then email IM. I have the GP's tomorrow to ask her help to set up a private scan for pre ET. ( some 8 weeks away i hope ) so will see how that goes too...

AS for the weather...well it's wilder weter and windier here than it was this morn...yeuk!!!!! more like autumn than summer. really you daren't fly a kite incase you take off!!!!! x x ( Idon't know what i'd be doing with a kite inmy back pocket anyway )



Anyway catch ya all tomorrow....much love to you all x x

jen
B XXXX