Our Decision to Use Frozen Donor Eggs
*** The opinions expressed in this blog post are not the opinions of Marna Gatlin, Founder and Executive Director of Parents Via Egg Donation. These opinions are from Heather intended mother and patient of Fairfax EggBank.
Once we decided to pursue donor egg treatment, we did extensive research to figure out how we could find the best egg donor out there in the world to help us conceive.
We learned there were two major options available to start: fresh donor eggs and frozen donor eggs. There are advantages and disadvantages to either option, and so we carefully assessed our needs and evaluated how strongly each option measured up to them.
- Need #1: Anonymity. We knew we didn’t want someone who we knew, or someone who was in an open donation program. Though many fresh programs offer anonymous egg donors, we felt frozen donor egg banks offered a much bigger selection of anonymous donors.
- Need #2: Timing and Control. I frankly didn’t want to deal with the effort of being matched to a donor, having her undergo screening, then synchronizing cycles with her – which is the process when using fresh donor eggs. I wanted to do this treatment on MY time, for once – and not feel like I’m a victim to time and factors outside of my control.
- Need #3: Cost. Through my research, I learned frozen donor eggs would cost about half the amount of fresh donor eggs. This was huge to us as we had already invested so much into treatment.
- Need #4: Reliability. We were sick of bad surprises that could prolong treatment and make it even more expensive. With fresh donor eggs, it’s harder to know what to expect: maybe we’d get a bunch of donor eggs from the donor, but there’s also a chance we’d get none. With frozen donor eggs, we knew we’d be guaranteed at least six to eight eggs, and that egg banks also offer a guarantee in the quality of eggs.
- Need #5: Good Service. Throughout our journey, often times we felt like part of a cattle herd alongside other patients, and our care was rather impersonal. By that time we were ready to pursue donor egg, we were EXHAUSTED, mentally and physically. While not a deal breaker, it was important to us to be able to work with a donor egg company that was known for valuing and taking care of its recipients. And while we knew of no distinction between fresh and frozen donor egg companies in this regard, we did hear that Fairfax EggBank, a frozen donor egg bank, was particularly well known for its customer service.
After weighing our priorities, it was a no-brainer: frozen donor eggs were a better option for us. At this point, I started to get very excited. I finally felt that I MIGHT be able to be a mom. We had gone through so many disappointments, so I was reluctant to get my hopes up too much…but all I knew was that frozen donor eggs was the right choice for me.
I contacted Fairfax EggBank, and the donor coordinator I talked to further confirmed we made the right decision. I ended up working with her throughout my process, and she was beyond amazing. I seriously cannot praise her enough. When I talked to her the first time, I literally felt like she and I were friends for years. I could call her four times in an hour with questions if I needed (which, I’ll admit, I totally did). She was so encouraging yet down to earth, and it made the experience that much better.
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Tune in again to read Heather’s next blog on how she went about finding the perfect donor for her and her husband.
Heather’s published blogs:
- How Did I Get Here? Intro to my donor egg story
- First Comes Love, Then Comes Marriage, then Comes… Infertility??
Have questions for Heather? E-mail success@fairfaxeggbank.com
Parents Via Egg Donation is excited to be partnered with Fairfax Egg Bank (FEB) as one of our partners/sponsors for 2017.
Fairfax Egg Bank has graciously shared the story of one of their intended parents Heather and her journey as an intended parents through their program in a six part series.
