[Positive20]

Hi Everyone.

I was wondering if anyone has had any successful stories using frozen DE rather than fresh? Anyone who has had 2 children from the same batch of eggs? I know that frozen eggs are financially more affordable and less waiting time but a less success rate. What are people's thoughts on this as an option rather than fresh?

Thanks in advance for any posts xx

 

[Cmcl75]

Hi Positive,

Yes, I have had success with frozen DE on my third try.  I actually was pregnant with twins on the first two attempts, and unfortunately lost both pregnancies.  My treatment for both of those was at Zlin in the Czech Republic.  I decided to mix things up for what was going to be my last attempt.  I decided to go to Gennet in Prague, and I changed some of my medication profile.  I added progesterone and clexane injections as well as low-dose prednisone and only put back one embryo.  I  truly believe those changes made the difference for me.  I was 44 when I had successful treatment during December 2019.  I’m still in utter disbelief that we were successful with our beautiful son (who I was told was a daughter until the anatomy scan, but that’s another story...haha).  I was seriously going to stop because my first two miscarriages were beyond horrible, as they all are...to the point where my life was in danger during he first one.  Hope this helps...cheering for all of you warrior women out there.

Christine

 

[treezuk]

I had two rounds in greece , fresh failed , frozen took but early loss / new round fresh failed , Frozen resulted in twin boys now 22m

We had two put back in each time x

 

[Sunburn 007]

Hi there
I would use frozen if I was to cycle again. I was actually told that frozen is often more successful. If the embryos survive the thaw then they are strong embryos and the process of freezing the embryos now is so high tech that is very similar to using fresh.  I had 4 fresh cycles and 2 frozen. The second frozen cycle was successful Nd I have a little girl. First 3 were in the UK then last 3 were In Czech Republic. I would so recommend Zlin in Czech. Excellent clinic. I would love to have another baby but unfortunately we had no embryos to freeze and the donor is no longer available which is a shame

 

[Harry2604]

I’ve had 6 donor eggs transferred, (3 fresh, 3 frozen)
2 chemicals and an eptopic. I really am despairing. I’ve got one frozen left but realise it will most likely fail.
Has anyone had success after so many failures (I also did 2 rounds of own eggs before donor)

 

[treezuk]

I did we put back embryos in pairs we had a fresh that failed a frozen that took but early loss then a new round new donor egg cycle fresh failed the frozen resulted in twins
So we had 8 embryos in total and 4 transfers we had a great clinic in greece couldn't fault them and we got there in the end hang in there

 

[katehe]

I am interested in this too. According to stats-frozen egg (not embryo) doesn't seem vastly different from fresh BUT i just had a consultation and the Dr was heavily suggesting fresh eggs were better (though I think this is partly because you are likely to start with more eggs). She said from their egg bank, you pay for 6 frozen eggs (unless you top up) and likely to only get 1 embryo whereas fresh, they guaranteed 9 so likely to get 2 embryos. So hard to know what to do

 

[Pognut]

We're starting to look at what our options are for carrying on with DE having tried all our embryos from a round with my (amazing) sister (who's now too old to donate again). It is SO confusing. I thought we were veterans, having been at this for years now, but I'm finding trying to work out what our best bet it totally bewildering.

I spoke to Care who pushed their frozen egg bank quite hard - I was surprised as I had heard the same thing about success rates as your doctor said, KateHE. I've got a lining problem that means we'll probably take more tries than average to get there and 1 embryo per cycle is NOT a goer at over 10k a time. What do you think you'll do, Kate? We were thinking of Altrui, but we're a bit lost atm!

 

[treezuk]

Definatly look into abroad if you think thats something that might interest you as it does work out significantly cheaper than the uk we were quoted around £7-9k in the uk (DE) we payed just over £6000 including flights and accommodation to go to greece it was pre covid tho but was sucessful

 

[Pognut]

Oooh, I know you from the Daisy Network, don't I! Recognised your sons' lovely names. Thanks for the tip - we want to stay in the UK if possible but it's all useful info, thanks 

 

[Miss Sunshine22]

Hi there

In one way, frozen is less of a gamble as you know in advance how many eggs you will get. However, I have also heard that the thaw rate is not as successful but then again lots of people have success from them.

We used Altrui to find our donor and got 15 eggs from a 24 yr old donor, which was amazing. We got 7 top quality blasts - had 2 failed SET of 5AAs and then had success with our son on the third transfer. I had implantation issues and quite a few things 'wrong' and so it was much less stressful knowing we had a few chances. This was one of the main reasons we went with Altrui as the eggs aren't shared, the donors are generally quite young, and many of them have donated before and are 'proven.' It was a bit more expensive than going the frozen route or egg-share route, but once we had our embryos it was all worth it.

We are now planning to go back for another transfer soon from the same batch as we have 5 left.

Good luck on your decisions. I think it's very much an agonising gamble.

 

[treezuk]

Aww yes quite possibly i try to stay active on most forums to give advice to anyone who needs it your always welcome to msg me either in here or **

 

[Pognut]

Thanks both - it's really helpful to hear from people who have been round this particularly fun block. It's lovely that you're both still on here, being so kind!!

I remember you from your first cycle, Miss Sunshine22, hope your FET goes really well. Thanks for the info on Altrui - what you describe is exactly what we're hoping for, and I can't see a way of getting a similar result through frozen eggs or egg-sharing, though nothing's guaranteed, I know.

We've been looking at Care Northampton, who have amazing success rates (though having been to a clinic who were manipulating their stats I'm now quite cautious about taking them at face value, even the HFEA ones). Not sure if they use frozen eggs or not - will have to find out...

 

[katehe]

I spoke to CARE and they have said 3-6 months wait list for frozen (because of covid)..and I haven't even got on the list yet...a month for a consultation...a month waiting for implications counselling and I have no idea of choice /info you get. London Egg Clinic quoted no waiting list and huge range that I can already look at..seems so much more transparent but a lot more money.  Have you looked anywhere else in UK that offer a good refund option ?

 

[Pognut]

That's bad about Care having such a long waiting list. I've spoken to them on the phone but they didn't mention that! And god, that's a long time to wait, too, especially if LEB can see you soon. I guess you have to cycle at one of their partner clinics - is it just the LWC they work with?

I'm not eligible for the refund packages (lining problem), so haven't been looking at them, sorry. Hope you can find something that works for you.

 

[katehe]

yep..I didnt find out about wait lists until consultation. the other thing is you have to pay 500 to register on the care egg bank which is non refundable and an add on. they put you on fresh and frozen list.
I didnt realise there were rules about guarantee refund  programmes..not sure what my lining is like 😬 I spoke to care nurse today and she said the same as the dr that they have only been doing frozen for a year and  they havent proven as successful as fresh in their specific clinic although national CARE stats look good.

 

[Pognut]

D'oh, of course it has to be a Care clinic, doesn't it - was getting them mixed up with the London Egg Bank.

The only reason we're thinking about Care is that one of their clinics - Northampton - has amazing success rates with DE on the HFEA ratings site, much better than their others/the rest of the UK! It's miles from us. I wonder how long they have been using frozen eggs, if they do. Going to have to ask. Can I ask which one you spoke to, if you don't mind? (DM?)

I'm not sure what the rules are for Care's refund programmes, but the ones I've looked at do have some conditions. I have a diagnosed issue with my lining which makes success less likely (thanks, body) so I'm not eligible for anything I've seen so far. If you haven't found an actual problem then you're fine, I'm sure. But definitely ask. It's like the extra £500 they don't mention; I really hate that you basically don't feel you can trust clinics not to extract money from you at every turn! For-profit health care is the worst. Thank god for the NHS, under funded though it is.

 

[katehe]

we are at CARE In Kent also because its closest and most affordable. I'm strongly thinking of going with London egg bank though purely based on the info you get about donors and we only need to travel in to london for fertilisation and transfer (there is a local satellite clinic for scans). it's a tough one as we can only afford one cycle at london compared to 2 at CARE but the lack of donor choice and transparency compared to london egg is really bothering me. but npton might be better?

 

[Pognut]

I don't know if it's any use to you, or too far, but I know that Complete Fertility in Southampton have a lot of egg donors available at the moment (I don't have any connection to them, but I know someone who works there). They only do egg share which we're not keen on (just because of the numbers; bloomin' lining problems = need max number of embryos because I'm really good at miscarrying early). But they're meant to be good, from what I know, not as expensive as London, and can get egg-sharers cycling really quickly atm (weeks, they said!).