I’ve read a few articles recently about where to go if you’re considering egg donation: stay in the UK or go abroad. As I’ve mentioned before, we took the option of using a clinic in Spain to find our donor and have the treatment and only have hugely positive things to say about that decision. The expertise, care and knowledge we received from our doctor over there was incredible and he stayed in constant contact even though he was in a different country. Our consultant here that we had seen ever since I went to find out if there was anything wrong had the partnership with this clinic and by the time we were making those decisions, we were invested in her and trusted her, plus it’s hard to find recommendations when you don’t know anyone else who has gone through the same process as you’re looking into. But it got me thinking about all the things you have to consider when making this hugely important decision, so I thought I’d jot down some of the considerations that did come up in case it helps:

Recommendation
My doctor at work recommended our consultant to me and I feel very lucky that we found her. After hearing stories now of other people’s process, I’m sure that our consultant here in the UK and doctor in Spain went above and beyond in terms of the advice they gave to give us the best chance. Also, I wouldn’t have known where to start to look if I hadn’t have had that recommendation. So if you can get any recommendations, I think it’s a good place to start.

Anonymous or known donor
I think this is a totally personal individual choice but when considering where to get your donor eggs from, keep in mind that in some countries (like the UK) you can find out details about your donor (and your child will be able to contact them at a later stage), whereas in other countries there are differing amounts of information you can know about your donor, some being completely anonymous. Our decision, as I’ve mentioned, was mainly based on the recommended consultant but we were happy that we wouldn’t know any information about our donor (apart from the fact that the Spanish clinic would do their best to match up basic characteristics). We didn’t want to pick our donor based on their intelligence, looks, sporting ability etc. as we thought in real life, those traits in a parent don’t mean to say that the child will necessarily inherit them anyway. It was enough for us to know that full medical background checks were done on all considered donors. But for some, it might be very important to know as much as possible about their donor, and give their child the option to find out who that donor is in later life. We talked about this consideration a lot, and discussed it with our counsellor, but for us, the donor eggs were the first step to us having a child, and my body’s influence on the growing child inside me would hopefully be as great as that of the woman who donated her eggs. We understood that this would mean our child wouldn’t be able to trace any heredity conditions from the maternal side, but that isn’t always the case in natural conception either (you might not know the medical history further back than your parents if all your grandparents have passed away, for example) and were willing to explain to our child the decisions we made. But again, some people might want to know the exact woman who is donating her eggs, and that’s the right decision for them.

The waiting list
I don’t know what the situation here in the UK (or any other country for that matter) is these days but I know there could be a wait list here a few years ago, at least. I have seen clinics here in the UK now report there is no wait list and there was no wait list at the clinic we used in Spain. It will all depend on the clinic, but it’s a good question to ask early on when you’re researching which clinic to use.

Success rates
This is worth considering when choosing a clinic, but make sure you understand exactly what the statistics are telling you. Some success rates might only refer to clients getting pregnant, whereas others might refer to live birth rates. I think if you are considering egg donation and you are slightly older, your age is less of a factor if they give success rates broken down by age, as the age of the egg donor is usually younger and it is the age of the eggs that is the important factor, as long as there are no other underlying issues. But there can be a whole host of stats given to you, so just be careful when you are comparing different clinics that you are comparing the same rates.

Cost
This is a tricky one as how do you put a price on the most precious gift you could have. But for the majority of people it is a very real consideration. Fertility treatment is an expensive business full stop (if you have to pay for it) so always check out the costs with the clinics you are looking at. From reading, apparently it can cost up to twice as much in the UK as in other countries for one cycle. But there’s not just the cost of the egg donor programme being offered to consider. On top of that are the consultation costs each time you go for an appointment (plus where you’ll need to go for the appointments if you are using a clinic abroad), the extra scans you might need to have, the meds (which you will need to start taking a week or so before the transfer and then for 3 months after if it’s positive so definitely a big part of the budget) and the cost of travelling and staying abroad if you chose that route.

Obviously there are many other considerations and there are no right or wrong answers, but these are some of the main ones we discussed and I hope they help.