Episode 10 - Proven Donors v Unproven Donors

Hello and welcome to 'My Donor Egg IVF Journey – Raw + In Real Time'.   

I am Claudine, your podcast host. I want to share my Donor Egg IVF journey via my podcast in the hope that my experience will help others.  This is our safe holding space. If you haven’t already listened to Episode 1, my introduction, please do so.   

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In this episode, episode 10 of my podcast, I share with you a factor that we considered when choosing our donor – proven v unproven fertility.  

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Claudine Xx 

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Transcript

0:03

Welcome to my Donut Egg IVF journey, raw and in real time. I'm Claudine, your podcast host. I want to share my Donut Egg IVF journey via my podcast, in the hope that my experience will help you and others. This is your safe holding space, created with a heart centered approach. A place to land to share all things related to Donut Egg conception. I want you to feel safe, supported and informed during our shared journey. Now let's start today's episode. If you haven't already listened to episode one of my podcast, please do. You can listen to my journey in chronological order, thereby Thereby my episodes in the order that they're released. Alternatively, you can choose the episodes that appeal to you the most via their titles. The initial episodes of this podcast will get you up to speed. And from thereafter, I'll update you in real time. Please pay attention to the disclaimer at the end of the show notes of this episode. By continuing to listen to this podcast, you understand and agree to that disclaimer in its entirety. Now today's date is Saturday, the 22nd of February, 2025 in today's episode, episode 10 of my podcast, I'll share with you a factor that we considered when choosing our donor. So that's proven versus unproven fertility. Now, what is a proven donor? A proven donor is a donor who has a track record of donor eggs, which have resulted in successful pregnancies, or who have given birth to their own children. So generally, it's believed that using donor eggs from a proven donor can improve your chances of success. So it's for this reason that some people prefer proven donors as well as for additional reassurance. On the contrary, there are some people who believe that proven donors are not necessarily always the best option. In episode eight of this podcast, I shared our experience surrounding choosing our preferred donor, which occurred back in October, 2024. Now you may recall that we were positive that she was the one and that we couldn't be happier that we found her. So her profile noted, uh, that she didn't have any children of her own. Um, I then contacted our patient coordinator asking her to confirm that was the case. And I also asked whether any of that donor's donations have led to a live birth. So I was informed that the donor does not have children of her own, uh, that she was new to their database and that she had only been recently added to that database. Following that, my partner and I discussed that all donors are unproven at some stage of their lives. And additionally, that of course, the donors would undergo comprehensive health and fertility testing, uh, so that the donor egg IVF clinics could assess their suitability as an egg donor. So obviously success rates are dependent on other factors as well, you know, such as sperm, uterine environment, and the list goes on. Now, we asked Olga for our preferred donor's, uh, fertility test results, and Olga advised that they do not release that information. In the end we decided to take a chance on our donor as we knew that we wanted her to be our donor. You know, we knew that as soon as we came across her profile, um, she was also 28 years old and she was in good health and we also considered that Olga would not have added that donor to their database in the case that that donor's fertility test results were poor. Nevertheless, I was still interested in the feedback of others in regards to proven versus unproven donors. So I posted in an IVF Facebook group. I'll read extracts from a portion of those responses. Now, the rest of this episode will basically be me reading out those extracts. Um, so for those of you who wish to tune out at this stage, thank you so much for your time with me today. Please tune into the next episode of this podcast, where I will discuss anonymous donors versus non anonymous donors. For everyone else, I'll read a total of 19 comments. So they're extracts from comments or, or complete comments. Now I personally prefer to listen to other people's experiences and perspectives. Doesn't always mean that you need to take them on, but I don't know. I always find it's interesting, you know, to know and then make informed decisions. However, please feel free to listen to the end or tune out at any time. Now, first comment. Our donor was 32 and unproven. We are successful with her eggs. Next comment. My donor was 28, no children. We did not test the embryos. I'm currently 25 weeks. Next comment. I'm 7 weeks pregnant today with our second frozen egg transfer. Still a long journey to go, but so far so good. And that's with an unproven donor. Next comment. We had two proven donors fall through but our not proven donor. I'm 26 weeks today with our first transfer of an untested embryo. Next comment. I think if she feels like the right fit and her medical background is good, like good AMH and AFC, I would say go for it. The only way for donors to become proven is for someone to use them. Next comment. Currently 24 weeks along. Her reasoning was that she did not want children of her own, but did not want to see her fertility go to waste. Next comment. I'm 31 weeks with an unproven 27 year old first time donor. If you really like her, Everyone starts as an unproven until they donate the first time or have their own child. Next comment. You can also ask the clinic how good her numbers are to assess how big a risk she is. It's not perfect but they are pretty good at evaluating. Next comment. We used a 24 year old unproven first time donor because she had qualities that I was looking for and we are currently 24 years old. 20 weeks with our first transfer that that was an untested embryo. I say follow your heart. Next comment. I really liked one donor and went to reserve her egg lot. It was kind of after the fact that I learned she was proven. It was added reassurance but it was her profile that sold me on her. If you're doing fresh get info like AMH and AFC and see what your doctor thinks the outcome could be. Next comment. What's more important, waiting for the perfect proven person, which may never come, giving up some of the traits to get a proven donor sooner, or taking a risk on an unproven donor? I'd personally, and did, go for it. It only takes one. Next comment. Sometimes people donate eggs because they know they don't want their own kids, so if nobody gives them the chance the first time as a donor, how will they ever become proven? It's up to you and how much you like them. If you're the one who will give them the chance. We did and couldn't be happier now. Next comment. I'm 7 weeks along with a 19 year old unproven donor. We chose her because she literally looked like we could be related. Some of her ethnicity was even the same as my own. Someone has to be first, why not you? Next comment. If all other indications testing is good and you feel a connection with her profile, I would go for it. I did a fresh cycle with an unproven 25 year old donor. 22 eggs retrieved, 21 mature, 17 fertilized, 10 blast sent for testing, and 8 were euploid. I'll be transferring one soon. Previously I had a 31 year old proven donor. 16 eggs retrieved, 14 fertilized, four blast sent for testing and four were euploid. The first transfer resulted in my son and the other three didn't make it to live birth. So a topic negative miscarriage. I don't think proven versus unproven is a worry, as long as they went through all the testing, so that's AMH levels, genetic, etc. Nick's comment, We had five different donors over three donor egg purchases. All were 22 to 24 proven with their own kids. We ended up with one euploid and two eggs. LM out of 22 eggs. If I could do it again, I'll pick someone. 28 to 31. Proven or unproven. Our doctor said older donors are more consistent in taking the meds and that results in better egg quality. So next comment donor, 1 21 years old, proven six eggs, zero blasts donor, 2 27 year old, proven eight eggs, one blast that resulted in a loss by six weeks. Both were frozen. Then we went with fresh donor three, 23, not proven, was able to make 12 eggs, all fertilized and we're still growing by day five, but five blasts had already been created. We have one day, six, six total embryos. Last comment, our donor was 26 and unproven. I personally think when some of these women do too many cycles, the egg quality goes down and also she will now be proven because I'm 18 weeks pregnant. Then someone replied to that comment, um, and said, the donor egg agency we went with showed all the numbers for the proven donors and it seemed like the number of eggs they produce went down a lot each time too. So that concludes today's episode. Please tune in to the next episode of this podcast where I will discuss anonymous versus non anonymous donors. Thank you for sharing your time with me. From my heart to yours, sending healing energy to all of my listeners.