understanding infertility

[moggs]

HI,

No I haven't heard anything yet and it has been a while.

Moggs xx

[sarahstarfish]

Hey Moggs

Will PM you re AED - you have to sign up to the site first before you can be activated.

Just editing to add if you have a hotmail account, check it's not full or if you have a stringent filter, check the junkmail box as well.

Love

Cindy

[SpecialMumma]

Okay thats beautiful.. Most certainly needed the tissues.. now its got me all emotional.

Goodluck to all those our there lookign for donors.

[jo-anne.36]

hello babydream i have seen your slideshow every time i look at the slide it makes me cry because i think of my own stuggle with inferitilty so i can realt to what is been showon and writen on there take care jo-anne

[Yue Min Che]

Baby dreams
I read your slid show ,I was tearing ,Because bub endeavour suppose some struggle fertility but infertile people ,Even i and my husband want find a EDto help me ,but i don't know where can get infor about ,my relationship all in China and i very difficult to get soppose from some one ,I was very disappointing for long time ,bub give me chance and confidence ,but I Still
dont understand how join the bub after I AD in .
Yu che

[jacquit]

Wow, that video!!! Soooooo touching. told the ladies in the IVF forum to take a look at it. I'd really like to post it to my friends / family so they can just get a bit of understanding how difficult infertility is.

you know, the bit where it says people say " relax, it'll happen, don't worry, you're still young" etc etc, well, that's what really makes me want to show friends/ family because that is what you hear so often. If only people knew how hard it is hey...

Good luck on your journeys everyone here.

take care
jt

[universalhopes]

What a lovely video - it says so much more than I can ever explain to my friends and family without bursting into tears. Loved the part about declining social engagements around babies - sometimes it's too hard on my heart - okay, most of the time!

Thankyou for making it available on the forum.
Jen

[JuliaM]

Hello Babydreams,
I just watched the slideshow; it was so heart moving! I didn't get a tissue as I didn't think that I would cry; wrong. I am sitting here with tears streaming down
and feeling very lucky to have my two beautiful children.
I guess we dont usually stop to think about the difficult journey that infertile couples are on and the heart break they face.
Donating eggs is not something that I have thought about. After seeing so many couples on Bubhub that are after donors it is something that I will seriously have to think about and talk to my husband about.
I wish you much luck on your journey to motherhood and Im sending you and the other couples here hugs for being so patient and brave.

Hi Babydreams,

I too sympathize, I have a lump in my throat after watching the slide show. I know exactly how it feels I have undergone 14 IVF cycles.

Hugs

JuliaM

[Shazii]

Wow babydreams, that is amazing!

I have only recently joined bubhub and my husband and I have experienced infertility issues also. I very much understand and can relate to your slideshow! That touched the deep part of my heart that has been damaged by the reality of infertility and reserved for the hope of joy in the future.

We discovered our infertility just after we got married and we were absolutely shattered. That was 3 years ago..........

Our marriage had some testing times in those early days and it's such an emotional struggle, but we are now stronger than we have ever been. The journey feels so isolated and lonely and there is always a daily reminder and yearning for children to fill our family.

We will get there though! We are now commencing our journey of looking for an egg donor and it has been a long process to reach a decision that we're both happy with and I hope that one day we will share the joy together that we so desperately want.

Your video was amazing and you should feel so proud to convey such a strong message that many women and couples feel through this very difficult journey.

Thank you for sharing such intimate feelings. I have just shown my husband and we both cried together. It's almost reassuring to know that there are other people who have experienced such heartache (not that you would ever wish it on anyone!) and can share the pain with you.

I wish you all the very best for every path you take in the future and thank you very much for sharing such an amazing journey so far.

[JNW]

Hi,

I am very interested in becoming an egg donor. At the moment I am pregnant but wish to help a couple in the next couple of years. I do find it difficult to find information:
- How painful is the procedure?
- How long does it take?
- If recipient is in another state, do they come to me or me to them?
- Legal issues (very confused)
- would my partner also have to donate sperm?

Thank you

I wish you guys luck in recieving

Moggs xx

Hi Moggs, I dont know if this reply is too late for you.

I donated eggs to a relative back in 2002. Things may have changed since then, but here is what I know.

1. The entire process takes a few months, if you include all of the build up to it. You have to go to counselling with the IVF specialists, have some medical tests and things before you even start the process. The actual process itself takes a good few weeks, as you have to go through a full menstrual cycle to stimulate the egg production and release etc.

2. The process is not painful. You have to inject yourself every day with a very fine needle (into the tummy if I recall), and the needle is much like an insulin needle. You hardly feel it. A side effect of the hormone injections can be varied, but nothing much worse than a normal cycle - a bit of bloating, the odd headache. I didnt get any side effects at all. At the end, you get an injection to 'release' the eggs, and you then go in to have the eggs collected. That was a bit uncomfortable as they extract them by using an internal ultrasound. I was a bit sore for a day or so afterwards, but really quite fine.

3. My relative was in Sydney and I was in Adelaide. She flew me to and from Sydney as required (was a couple of trips all up with the counselling etc). I was able to stay in Adelaide during the stimulated cycle though, and even for some of the scans during that time. Only had to fly to Sydney for the final injection and harvesting - as they fertilised the eggs as soon as they were harvested. My relative paid for all the costs involved. I don't know if this is normal or not, but I would imagine so.

4. Legally, once you have donated, you have nothing more to do with the eggs and are not even allowed to get info from the IVF clinic about how they are fertilised, their progress etc. Its up to the receiver to let you know what is going on, if you want to know. The child is of course legally the child of the birth mother and father - but any role you play in a non legal sense is up to you and them.

5. The sperm is not much to do with the egg donation, it depends on the circumstances. Usually the husband of the receiver will be using his own sperm to fertilise the eggs, if his sperm is ok. If not, the couple choose what they wish - another sperm donor of some kind. Certainly no requirement on the egg donor's partner to donate sperm in any case whatsoever!

I hope that helps! I do recommend doing it, its really fulfilling and I enjoyed it. I was a single Mum with two kids at the time, which I had had without any trouble and I knew of the situation with my aunt for a long time, and it was heartbreaking for her. She did have a baby son about a year later and I have no idea whether he was from my egg or not, and hard to tell to look at and I dont really want to know. I am just happy to have had the opportunity to help, if I did.

Cheers

Jac