If you’re considering using frozen donor eggs to help grow your family, you might also be wondering what sort of biological impact, if any, you’ll have on your baby, given the fact that they’ll be inheriting their DNA from the egg donor rather than from you. The reality is that your baby’s development, health, and even future well-being are greatly dependent on your body, from day one. And that’s due — much in part — to something known as epigenetics.  Here’s what RN and Donor Egg Bank USA’s physician relations manager, Becca Murillo, has to say...

It was over two years ago when we found ourselves at a crossroads on our journey to parenthood. After exhausting our insurance-covered intrauterine insemination (IUI) cycles, we decided to take a small break from fertility treatments. We had just bought a new house on the edge of St. Paul, complete with a front porch, big windows, and three bedrooms, at least one of which we desperately wanted to fill with a crib and rocking chair in the near future. Oh, and a baby too.  One evening, I found myself on the Google machine, every infertile’s most...

For heterosexual couples, being told by a doctor that you need to use donor eggs to have a baby can be incredibly emotional for both partners. While it might seem obvious that a woman would grieve the loss of her biological tie to her future child(ren), there is a lot for men to come to terms with as well when it comes to pursuing donor egg IVF as their path to parenthood. Grief  Infertility is a couple’s issue, not just a woman’s issue. And in the case of donor eggs, it can be incredibly difficult...

Male factor infertility is not something I ever thought I would experience. I’m young, healthy, and no one else in my family has had infertility issues, so why would I? I felt broken, like less of a man and husband. I was embarrassed. What will people think? The shame and secrecy around the topic of male infertility leave every newly diagnosed man feeling emasculated and alone, a sad reality considering that nearly 50% of all infertility diagnoses are at least partially due to male factors. Having children has always been a given for me, something I...

My husband Michael and I knew right away that we wanted to start trying to have kids when we got married. We found out fairly early on that Michael had low sperm count and low motility because he was being treated for another medical condition where they just happened to do a sperm analysis. Because of that, we jumped right into fertility treatments.  We did four IUIs, all of which failed before we were finally referred to a Reproductive Endocrinologist. It was after our initial meeting with our fertility doctor and additional testing that we discovered...

When you think of the typical situations that lead people to turn to lawyers, you may think of getting into a car accident, executing a will, or getting divorced. Talking about in-vitro fertilization (IVF) cycles and embryo transfers might seem like discussions reserved for your doctor. However, it is just as important to speak about these issues with an ART attorney if you are considering fertility treatment with third-party reproduction (surrogacy or egg, sperm, or embryo donation) to build your family. With multiple parties, a lot of money, and human emotion involved, it’s essential to make informed...

For IVF patients, having a doctor suggest donor eggs as a next step in the process can be an incredibly daunting and emotional experience. I recently had the pleasure of chatting with Meagan Chan, Nurse Practitioner & Third-Party Clinic Coordinator at Laurel Fertility Care in the Bay Area, all about how Donor Egg IVF and embryo donation works. She helps demystify the process and shares what intended parent(s) can expect when pursuing Donor Egg IVF or embryo adoption to grow their families.  Q: Meagan, you are in charge of third party reproduction at Laurel Fertility Care. Can you tell us a...

When my husband and I first started our IVF journey, peoples’ response was often, “That’s so exciting; you’re going to have twins!” I quickly got very frustrated, explaining to them that there was actually a very small probability that would happen for us. While it is true that IVF has produced many multiples, the bigger issue that I really want to raise awareness about is that doing IVF does not guarantee you a baby, let alone twins. The truth is, some couples go through many rounds of IVF egg retrievals without getting any viable embryos. So...

My husband and I were diagnosed with unexplained infertility when we were both 27. We went through five IUIs and three rounds of IVF with my own eggs, and we never even experienced an embryo transfer during that time, let alone pregnancy. From our three egg retrievals, we got a total of 24 embryos, all of which arrested well before Day 5. At that point, our clinic said the degrading of the embryos after fertilization pointed to egg quality issues. They suggested moving on to donor eggs, so after three years of trying to conceive with...

When Eran Amir started building his family, he decided he wanted to pursue surrogacy. But when he started the process of finding an egg donor and a surrogacy agency, he found the process to be time-consuming, complicated, and expensive, even though it was completely worth it in the end.  That’s why he created GoStork, the only all-in-one online platform that allows intended parents to find, compare, and connect directly with fertility providers - helping them save time, effort, and money as they make more informed decisions about their future. It is the resource he wished he...