[39already]

Has anyone worked out whether there is any difference in price between Xytex and ESB? Also, ESB doesn't seem to have too many donors for CMV -ve at the moment so I am not sure if it is worth signing up with them.  Any thoughts?

Many thanks
Sue

 

[carrie lou]

It's a while now since we imported sperm but I remember we found ESB considerably more expensive. Apparently there is an extra charge that they add on for UK customers. Not sure whether this is still the case. We ended up going with Xytex and found them very helpful, friendly and efficient. Best of luck

 

[Passenger42]

I ended up looking at Cryos as it was cheaper than Xytex and ESB and you didn't have to pay to view the profiles and you could choose a non-anonymous donor easily.  They respond quickly to emails asking about shipping costs also.

 

[Rose39]

There are generally far fewer CMV negative donors than CMV positive donors, whichever sperm bank you use - just because they are less common in the general population. If you are doing tx in the UK and require a CMV negative, ID release donor, it might be more of a case of finding the donor you like first, then looking at the price/ sperm bank. (I am CMV negative and had to use a CMV negative donor - I had tx abroad and ended up using an anonymous donor as the sperm bank had no CMV negative, ID release donors that matched any of the characteristics I was looking for at the time I had treatment). As far as I remember, ESB has an extra fee for the UK as others have already said - not sure if this is still the case but worth enquiring about. Good luck!
Rose xx

 

[Ceemo]

We went with ESB over Xytex as I didn't think there was that great a difference in price and thinking forward to the future preferred that the donor was in Europe in terms of child contacting them when they're 18. There is a one off extra charge for uk, but even factoring that the difference in total costs was small comparing Xytex to ESB.

Good luck in your search

Ceemo

 

[flowerfaery]

ESB charge a 1000 Euro pregnancy slot fee for the UK because the HFEA restricts the numbers of families that a donor can be used for to 10.  However if the donor doesn't work for you and you move to another donor you will get a 750 Euro refund.  I have found them to be very helpful and efficient so I would recommend them.
Also some clinics will let a CMV neg woman use a CMV pos donor if she signs a waiver.  Worth doing the research and see how you feel about the risks, but it is worth noting that if a woman is CMV neg and her partner is CMV pos nowhere would refuse to treat with his sperm.  In fact if you have a CMV pos partner and you are CMV neg then clinics will use a CMV pos donor as the risk from contact with the male partner is higher!

Complicated isn't it..?

FF

 

[irishpete]

I'm a recent ESB customer and I would recommend them.  They were so helpful, sending me weekly updated of CMV -ve donors and when it came to dee-day and I needed an extention on my 3-month unlimited pass, they gave me a free pass.  My wife and I did secure a CMV -ve donor but the choice was extremely limited, that would be my only drawback.  It was expensive - the donor which we picked only had two ICI units, so we had to also purchase an IUI unit as we were recommended to get 3.  So 3 units + the pregnancy slot (75% refund if no successful pregnancy...) + shipping came to €2250.  Ouch.  No NHS funding but have a good credit card...