Egg Donation in Greece #3

[Yasna]

Hello everyone

I posted here a few months ago and you were all very helpful. In fact it was this thread that made us decide against the clinic our specialist was sending us too and instead choose Embryoland.

We leave in less than 2 weeks and I am feeling more than a little overwhelmed. I have checked back in here because I have so many questions for anyone who has been to Embryoland such as where did you get the cash component of your payment in Greece, what was your experience like?

Plus more general questions for anyone who would like to share their experiences and tips such as how did you carry your meds? How expensive was it to access your savings and credit card accounts in Greece? Did you get a local SIM card while you were there.

Any advice would be warmly welcomed.

Thank you so much everyone.

P.S I am 44, from Brisbane and already have 1 child (naturally). But our fertility journey has encompassed the last 13 years of our lives. This is the end and I am equally excited, reserved and terrified.

Hey China Doll and welcome !

I'm also in Brisbane turning 46 soon, and have a nearly five month old son from going to Embryoland last year. I'm happy to answer your questions and if you like, you can message me with your phone number and I can talk to personally about my experience.

I took cash and paid half cash half card. With meds I got a letter, but never needed to use it, the Greek customs were more worried about my fertility statue that made them giggle. I carried clexane with me, I was advised to take it due to blood clots since I was on a high dose of progynova. I took clexane until 12 weeks, and stopped all other medications at the same time.

I was extremely terrified about going down the donor egg path, but I thought to myself "do you want to hold a baby in your arms or not?"...it was either try and get pregnant with my 2% chance with my own eggs, or go for 60-70% with donor. I'm glad I took the trip. Plus after 9 unsuccessful attempts with my own eggs, I realised, enough is enough.

I chose Embryoland because I really like Dr Nikos Kanakas, he is one of the best doctors i've ever dealt with and really loves creating life across the globe. He takes great pride in his work and is genuinely interested in creating a baby for you. I felt like he was invested in my personal goal of becoming a mother. It worked out for me so well, that I would not hesitate going back to Greece when the time is right. I've read about other clinics, but I can only talk about Embryoland since I was lucky enough to be successful and have a gorgeous healthy baby boy, who apparently according to my mother, looks like me. He chose my female donor really well, I feel a great connection with my child.

I wish you all the best and I think you have chosen the best place in Greece to start your journey of motherhood. Embryoland was a life changer for me.

[Yasna]

Thanks so much Cherry for your post.

We haven't decided anything as yet. Have read all of the Greek posts including additional posts from website Cherry suggested. Haven't read any posts about the Czech clinics yet.

i know some of you have Greek heritage and so it would make sense to go to Greece. I know the Greek clinics do have students from other countries etc. I am blonde with Green eyes and my husband has Scottish heritage.

Why did some of you choose Greece over Czech if you have similar features to myself?

i'm nervous about committing to a clinic and having a problem like Cherry had when their selected donor only produced 2 eggs to be fertilised. What if none of them survived to the 5 day mark? And we've travelled all that way!

I have a friend from this forum who is a gorgeous blonde haired green eyed woman, her partner is also light haired. They used my clinic Embryoland and Dr Kanakas picked a perfect donor for them. The baby has lovely blonde hair and blue eyes. I think he has a few Polish donors that he uses for light haired people. Im a brunette and look Greek, so Dr Kanakas said it would be easy to find the right donor. Hence why I chose Embryoland, because I trusted the doctor to make the right choice for me, and he did, my boy looks just like me according to my mother.

Im also concerned about returning to Greece and the two left over embryos I have not defrosting well. But I'm sure that there might be frozen embryos available from other couples donating. I would be more than happy to use embryos from another profile that suited my appearance, brown hair/eyes. You would have to ask Dr Kanakas that personally, I'm not sure if that option is available. ???

[Yasna]

Thanks @CherryCP

I'm not sure if we are with lakentro or genesis at this stage as it is depending on a few details - Dr Stephen Syrkos works across a few clinics & he is my consultant recommended by FS dr Lynn Burmeister & my obstetrician the lovely Dr Ian Barabash -so I guess for me it's about knowing of my consultants qualifications & reputation through Aussie contacts & colleagues.

So my handling will be a little bit more personalised then the Genesis mass production I to have heard about ! I raised my concerns as well & it seems like Genesis can be a bit mass market ( a bit like Monash Ivf ) & lakentro a lot more personalised.
Thanks for the heads up & warning .

My cycle post D&C finally arrived !
Next step Nk cell test at day 21 & scratching with Dr Lynn Burmeister .

Then to get sorted for the meds to take to Greece - it's now getting closer !!

May I ask -the dr's letter regarding the medication for overseas travel - what exactly does the letter need to state ? Is it a generic one where the meds are for fertility reasons or are the list of meds to be on the letter specifically ?

Thankyou ladies

I heard that Genesis is very popular with the Greeks, they barely speak English and are very rushed. If you want personalised service you are best going with Embryoland, since all your discussions will be with your Dr, which if you are fortunate you will get Dr Nikos Kanakas. I love the guy and will always rave on about him since he made me one happy mother !!

[CherryCP]

i know some of you have Greek heritage and so it would make sense to go to Greece. I know the Greek clinics do have students from other countries etc. I am blonde with Green eyes and my husband has Scottish heritage.

i'm nervous about committing to a clinic and having a problem like Cherry had when their selected donor only produced 2 eggs to be fertilised. What if none of them survived to the 5 day mark? And we've travelled all that way!

Hi @Gold Coastie!!!

Firstly, it is amazing just how many blonde haired people are in Greece. Try googling "Greek blonde" and you will see a range of info. Some people state 10 to 30% of the Greek population is blonde?? Actually I'm very tall, and the tallest donor at my clinic was blonde unfortunately! Frankly... I would not worry about availability of a blonde donor - because that is the clinics job. When you make enquiries, have a Skype and send photos, they will soon tell you if it is going to be difficult finding you a donor. As soon as Ruth saw me, she was able to advise of the likelihood of finding a match. The clinics deal with enquiries like yours every day and they know their available donors well. At first, I found it hard to trust their judgement... but in the end - you just have to let go.

I hope I haven't scared you about my donor's 2 egg episode!! That was a VERY RARE event... of course it had to happen to me. The clinic and my nurse were utterly dumbfounded by it as she was a several times proven donor. Ruth said it was the first time she had ever experienced that type of thing at that clinic and she has been helping hundreds if not thousands of women from around the world for many years. As others have said, there is usually a back-up plan at the clinic. Most clinics will have several donors cycling at any given time.

If you want absolute certainty of the quality and quantity of embies available for you, then I would recommend the 'create and freeze' that @lissimmo is doing. Basically once they have DH's sperm, they just keep stimulating donors and creating embies, until they have enough high grade AA 5 day blasts for you. They freeze them and you go over later for a transfer when it suits you. They are getting high success rates with this program as the quality of embies is always high and freezing/thawing techniques have drastically improved. This program really appealed to me, but the clinic didn't have DH's sperm. So rather than him going over alone to make a 'deposit', we took our chances and went over together, made a holiday of it, and did fresh. If you want any info about this program, please send me a PM (Personal Message).

Hope this helps!

[Yasna]

oh and congratulations to the wonderful women who have BFP's !!!

This forum was a great support while I was trying to conceive and I've met some lifelong friends through here. Its much easier when you have someone who has gone through the same thing to talk to.

OPA !

[Lucky8]

Good morining everyone ! I'm having a bout of insomnia , so much going on in my head with all of this ! With Genesis - it has many ex Aussie's working there in terms of professors etc . I correspond to professor stefanos Syrkos only in english so can't say I have a language issue . He also corresponds with my Fs & obstetrician in English .I guess because I have a blood issue called mthfr , it's a bit tricky so We have had to do a bit of homework on that issue to & going with an academic so they can learn from the disorder & Liase with world specialists on the topic was part of my decision making process .

My issue is that I conceive naturally ( yes even at 47 ) but can't sustain the pregnancy due to the dna malfunction it appears ! I would have liked to have known this 10 years ago , but dr Lynn Burneister picked the issue up when I saw her late last year .
The professor I'm working with lectures at Melb Uni & was from Melbourne originally .There are comments that the Aussie's get a financial kick back -all my meds are getting sorted through by obstetrician dr Barabash . Although he knows my clinician he hasn't administered drugs for an overseas programme before but my FS dr lyn Burmeisters said once protocol decided that's fine for him to sort for us - so he is not taking money as he's fine with either Lynn or himself writing up the relevant scripts & only wanted to help in any way after dealing with me after a traumatic miscarriage (after seeing a very strong heartbeat at 8 weeks my very first heartbeat ) we weren't even trying to get pregnant which was the irony as had been told by Lynn go get a donor & gave me several options of where to go .

No pressure from my obs to deal with Greece whatsoever , he's glad I'm working with someone he knows personally & professionally . He said he would help in anyway he could for us to achieve a take home baby .

I believe it's popular with the Greeks ( Mary koutsas went there to ) & if you go in not knowing anyone then a less daunting clinic might be the go for some . I'm of Italian decent so my strategy is also to fit with someone along those blood lines hence open to clinic for those reasons to . My hubbiey is fair haired , tall , blue eyed & have the option of going for a donor of my choice in terms of Height colour etc so don't worry about that @Goldcoastie

Dr Stefanos has said it is true Genesis can feel like it's impersonal as its a larger organisation , but facility wise has more equipment & resources . He praised ikantro as although more boutique is personal & individualised . I'm going with who has the best match for me & can handle my mthfr issue best at this point - with dr Syrkos holding my hand on this one .

Thanks for the meds advise everyone , I'm a bit of a planner ( my job title is "merchandise planner " so cannot help it !)

Lots to plan now ... Flights , accomodation , work , etc etc etc

[CherryCP]

Good morining everyone! I'm having a bout of insomnia , so much going on in my head with all of this !

Dr Stefanos has said it is true Genesis can feel like it's impersonal as its a larger organisation , but facility wise has more equipment & resources . He praised ikantro as although more boutique is personal & individualised . I'm going with who has the best match for me & can handle my mthfr issue best at this point

Hi @Lucky8!

With your particular condition it is best you follow the guidance of your specialists as to choice of clinic - just as you are doing. They will ensure the best treatment for you as they know your background. It sounds like you are heading on the right track!!

By the way... FYI... Iakentro treats a lot of Italians. They have a special 'Italian Program' apparently. That is where my donor was selected from. While DH and I were in the waiting room, we got to meet/see a lot of Italian couples.

Have fun with your plans... and try to get some sleep!!!

[Lucky8]

@CherryCP , I think that's why iakentro is in the mix to keep the option available for best donor profile . I've told dr that if I have a choice of clinincs give me ikantro based on feedback lol

All going to plan fly out end of June . Just fine tuning dates before I lock in flights . ( with a trip to Santorini before heading to the clinic for r & r !!)

So exciting

[Gold Coastie]

Thank so much Cherry, Yasna and Lucky for alleviating my concerns regarding donors.

Really appreciate the support. Just recovered from my last OE IVF as mc at 12 weeks. It has hit myself and hubby hard since 10 wk NIPT and bloods all came back low risk.

Have made appt with FS so we'll see how we go....hoping we can still work with him.

[CherryCP]

Have made appt with FS so we'll see how we go....hoping we can still work with him.

Hi @Gold Coastie! You are very welcome!

Actually another option for blonde donors is Spain. They were in my short list + Ruth works with them too. Spain has quite a diverse population... I'd say they'd probably have more blondes than Greece! Plus located near universities, etc.

I am fortunate to work with a lot of different nationalities in Mining and Construction. This might sound weird.... but when choosing a country/clinic I based my decision somewhat on the general feel I got from working with these different nationalities, ie. whether they were kind, caring, bossy, family oriented, etc, etc. I have interacted with Czech, Sth Africans, Spanish, Italians, Greek, etc. I found Greek people to be the most friendliest, warmest, caring, funny and family oriented (even tho my hubby has Italian heritage!!).

We went to Italy for our honeymoon and DH loved it... but after our trip to Greece DH is agreeing the Greeks are more warm, friendly and hospitable. He wants to go back!! (Perhaps for another transfer?? heh heh - just joking). I don't know if those qualities the Greeks have are genetically engrained ?? I'm hoping so!

Something I meant to mention earlier... you don't need to see an Oz FS to do OS DE. If you have done your research and you are confident with the general ivf process (most of us ladies are by this stage), then save your money and just see your GP. A GP can write all the scripts and referrals that you require. However if your situation is complicated or you need a hysto/scratch/flush before your trip, then an FS is a must.

Hope this helps!!