INITAL CHOICES: After a long amount of planning and saving and researching and talking with eachother and preparing and researching more, we physically started looking for the best clinic we could find and a very competent donor agency.
We saught out advice from my doctors, including Dr Lum, the amazing OB/GYN from Cincinnati who actually did my surgery 5 yrs ago, on how we should select a clinic. In doing so, we learned that one of the best resources for couples considering IVF. Its http://www.sart.org/, the assocation that maintains standards for fertility centers. This website actually lists the Live Birth Statistics for clinics nationwide, broken out by recipient age and donor egg IVF. It an amazing, unbiased resource.
The irony of all ironies is that the clinic with consistently the highest stats for Donor Egg IVF (DE-IVF) was in Cincinnati where we used to live. Even more ironic, is that one of the most organized donor agencies in the area, as well as the one we felt most comfortable working with--was also is Cincy. Although Cincy is about 3 1/2 hours away, we decided to base our treatment there because we wanted to work with the team that could give us the best chances of starting a family. We also have ties to the city-- and family in Columbus & Dayton to visit along the way. So, we chose our team: Our donor agency is Reproductive Assistance Inc, founded by a wonderful woman who's actually been in our shoes. We also chose to work with Dr Hofmann's & his team at Bethesda Center for Reproductive Health.
OUR FIRST APPOINTMENTS IN CINCY: Once deciding on "Team Stork," we set off to meet them, ask a bunch of questions, get screened, and get educated on what this IVF is all about. We had a full day of appointments / orientation / testing at Bethesda. Literally we were there from 9:30a-4p and we learned a lot.
We met Ann, who is the Donor Egg Coordinator and will be my patient liason at Bethesda. She's wonderful. She let us know what the day of appts would entail...We also went through a psychological screen and a full gammet of tests. After the tests, we were able to meet with Dr Hofmann, who explained the entire process. I love the fact that he laid out the whole program from start to finish.
After reviewing my records, they decided to do some extra tests, just to be sure that nothing else was going on. They kept joking about how young we are compared to the rest of the patients they see--it lightens the mood, which is a good thing. Usually, couples who choose to do IVF, especially DE-IVF, do so as a last effort. Unlike us, who are going striaght for the big kahuna of fertility treatments. One of the reasons Bethesda has success rates much higher than the national average is because they are particular in who they allow to go through IVF. They thoroughly screen both donors and recipients to make sure both are "very able to do their part." They want to be sure that the investment we're making and the resources we're all contributing have the best chance of yeilding a positive result. I like that approach... a lot.
Then, we met with the embyologist and learned about the lab and how they grow the embryos. That was really cool, complete with photos. Bethesda actually fertilizes the eggs and then lets the embryos grow in their lab for 6 days, so that they can see how the little guys are dividing into multiple cells. Only the healthiest of embryos are implanted, which occurs on Day 6, when they are technically "blastocysts."
We also learned about our treatment plan, which would include a test cycle. They wanted to be sure that I could handle the meds (i.e. not become a hormonal lunatic), and more importantly, check to make sure my uterus was a good candidate for becoming a "baby home." The test cycle would culminate in a procedure called an 'aquasonography,' where they test the lining for thicness and look for any potential scarring of the uterine wall.
Finally, we learned that the center would be "throwing back 2 embryos" (which is medical-common speak for "inserting 2 embryos"). Its amazing how much technology has improved IVF--the process has evolved so much in the past few years. It used to be commonplace for 3 embryos to be used in each IVF cycle. Now, they are moving towards only throwing back 2. The logic is that singles and twins have the least medical complications. Once you add in Baby #3, you're much more suspeptable to mother and babies having significant health issues. In fact, Bethesda feels as though any pregnancy resulting in more than 2 babies is a bit of a failure. So, sorry Collete, triplets are out of the question for us. I must admit, I'd be happy with any type of family, but I'm a bit relieved that 2 is the max for this attempt--that just seems a bit more managable.
Okay-- that's a lot for one post-- so we'll save the donor selection for another day's thoughts
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