When Secondary Infertility Strikes
You were dreaming of welcoming another addition to your family, but a negative diagnosis from your fertility doctor has left you reeling. Getting pregnant with your first child was so “simple,” but now you’re over thirty and it seems just impossible.
Even though you’re struggling to conceive, and you may have already tried a traditional IVF cycle, you still have options available including frozen donor egg IVF. With the help of companies like Donor Egg Bank USA, a California Cryobank Company, donor eggs could counter your secondary infertility and fulfill your dreams of having the perfect family.
Eggs, Age, and Infertility Issues
As a woman ages, her fertility starts to decline – this process can start as early as her 20s. By the time she’s 30, there’s a 20% chance she’ll conceive naturally every month – and when she hits her 40s, this number diminishes to just 5%.
Even if a woman has never encountered infertility before and already given birth to her first child, there’s still a chance of secondary infertility. In fact, according to the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), there are 3 million women in the US who have one child and are struggling to get pregnant or carry another baby full-term.
Discovering that there is an issue with your eggs is devastating, and has a huge impact on you, your partner, and your children. Surrogacy and adoption are also options, but having already carried your own child, you may feel like these solutions will fall short of what it feels like to be a parent. You won’t experience those overwhelming feelings as your baby girl grows inside you, or be able to breastfeed her once she arrives.
These life-changing experiences are still achievable with donor egg.
Finding a Donor
You have two options with donor egg IVF: selecting an anonymous donor though an egg bank or finding a donor you know.
Many people assume parents will prefer a familiar donor, and some friends and family members may altruistically offer their eggs. However, the idea of pairing a close relative’s or friend’s eggs with your partner’s sperm may complicate your family/friendship dynamics. It may mean you feel more obliged to share the identity of the egg donor with your child, too.
Conversely, an egg bank provides you with a database of anonymous donors. These candidates are screened and tested beforehand, including drug usage tests, physiological and physical examinations, and family histories. You’ll also be able to create a list of criteria you’d like your donor to have. This may include physical traits, such as hair or eye color; or they may be non-physical attributes like athletic, academic, or musical talent.
With very few limitations to your search, you’re able to be quite specific in your criteria – which is why you may need to allow several months to find your perfect donor.
Using Frozen Donor Eggs in IVF
Some of the chief advantages of frozen donor egg IVF are that it’s less expensive, less time-consuming, and less complicated than fresh donor egg, as the donor’s eggs are collected and ready for you to utilize as soon as you select them.
The start of your process includes a full medical evaluation to eliminate any risk factors, followed by an endometrial lining development stage. This helps prepare your uterus for the embryo implantation using a combination of estrogen and progesterone.
Once this pre-screening process is complete, your partner’s sperm is used to fertilize the thawed donor eggs in a laboratory. All the embryos created are placed into incubation for approximately three to five days before 1-2 are implanted in your womb.
Two simple blood tests follow two weeks later. These test for the pregnancy hormone, hCG, before an ultrasound detecting your baby’s heartbeat confirms your pregnancy.
Dealing with Your Emotions
As you embark on your journey toward the perfect family, you’ll experience a rollercoaster of emotions. From sadness and anger to happiness and elation, it’s completely normal to go through these fluctuating emotions.
Being a mom already, you may also feel guilty about your disappointment that you can’t have another child with your own eggs. After all, there are couples who are struggling to conceive their first child. However, regardless of whether you already have a child, when you’re told you can’t fulfill your natural instincts to carry a baby, it’s incredibly hard to accept. You want a brother or sister for your child; you want to create the loving, complete family you’ve always hoped for.
Even after a secondary infertility diagnosis, frozen donor egg IVF offers you and your family a light at the end of the tunnel. It’s the glimmer of hope you, perhaps, never thought possible – and it’s your next step toward the perfect family unit.
