In Belgium the egg donor is not anonymous, the waiting list is too long
Hello ladies who want to become pregnant by means of egg donation! I want to share my story and my experience with you.
The reason my husband and I wanted to do egg donation does not matter, the fact is that my husband and I now have a beautiful healthy son of 4 months and are very proud and happy with him!
End of 2012, we decided to try. Egg donation. We were referred to this by my gynecologist, who suggested Belgium, but then we were told that in Belgium there was a long waiting list, and we did not have time. Moreover, in Belgium, the donor is not anonymous. Therefore, we continued to search the Internet for egg donation from an anonymous donor.
We then found EMBIO MEDICAL CENTER in Athens, Greece. I emailed Dr. Paraschos asking for information, and within a few hours, I got a personal response! We had a good feeling so we went on the path! We could say that we wanted a donor with a university education, various wishes could come true then. The donor looked like me, Embio finds a donor who looks like you. You get an egg donor profile. All "approved" donors go through an extensive testing process, to make sure they are free from all kinds of diseases, they've never smoked, no addictions, etc etc. All emails were in English. From the time of the 1st mail to the egg donation in May 2013, it took us 4.5 months. This could have been a lot erarlier if I had taken the tests at Embio. In the Netherlands I've had all kinds of examinations and tests at the hospital; that we had to pay all ourselves, since these tests are not reimbursed over a certain age. Also, my husband had one investigation, his semen should also be examined to see that it was "healthy".
About 6 weeks prior to egg donation I had to start medication and injections, which I ordered online myself from England, as this was simply a little cheaper than if I ordered it directly from Embio. Otherwise, Embio can send it to you. At first, I saw the whole thing as a mountain I had to climb. All those medications and especially the self-administration of injections. Looking back, it was all well done! The doctor's assistant showed me how to do the injections. I was afraid of any side effects, but I haven't been sick from the drugs.
Anyway, at last, there was the moment of transfer of four embryos. I use the word "moment", because I really felt absolutely NOTHING during the process! It was a strange idea, that suddenly there was something inside.
June 12, 2013, now back home, of course, we could do a pregnancy test: And yes, POSITIVE!! Wowww, we were pregnant! After the embryo transfer I had to keep taking the medication for a few more weeks. That was because I simultaneously had an ectopic pregnancy, fortunately in the abdomen, alongside my healthy pregnancy. So I ended up in the hospital, bleeding. Apparently there was one embryo that managed to travel up in my fallopian tube and would grow there. (Too bad the others couldn't make it)...
Anyway, I have never regretted it! We were always having our IVF coordinator, Dr. Paraschos' assistant, on our side. A fantastic, really sweet lady, who really showed a lot of patience answering every email with my many and sometimes impatient questions.
All in all, we are now very happy with our son! Our son will not be put in an agonizing path, asking who his biological mother is, since egg donation in Greece is from anonymous donors. When the time is right and when our son is old enough, we're possibly going to tell, but we do not know for sure yet.
I just wanted to share my experience. In short, we were very pleased with the great service from EMBIO MEDICAL CENTER in Athens, Greece. Hats off to Dr. Parashos and our IVF coordinator! : Applause:
If you have questions, write with confidence to Dr Parashos and he'll answer all your questions.
If someone Dutch wants to have personal contact with me, ask for my email, so you can email me for further information!