Ashleys Egg Sharing story

"I feel really good about the fact I was able to share my eggs"

I have polycystic ovaries and my periods have always been very irregular so I’ve kind of always suspected that conceiving might not be straight forward for me. When we decided to start trying for a baby we went to our GP just to explain my situation and to see if there was anything they could do to help me ovulate. They’ve sent me for some tests and although I could have fallen pregnant naturally, the chances were very low, so we decided to try fertility treatment right away.

My partner has children from a previous relationships which meant we weren’t eligible for NHS funding, so we began researching private clinics. I booked on to one of abc’s webinars and really liked what I heard. I decided to book an initial consultation and that’s how it all started.

I had an initial scan and then a consultation with one of the lead consultants there. This was a very informative appointment and we felt really comfortable with the team. During the scan, the consultant saw many follicles in my ovaries and mentioned that, if I wanted to, there was also the option to share my eggs. This would mean that half of the eggs collected would be used for my treatment and half would be donated to a woman who cannot use her own eggs for treatment.

Egg donation is something I had considered before but hadn’t realised it was something you could do as part of your own treatment, so after speaking to my partner about it I decided to go for ahead with Egg Sharing. I called the clinic and explained to them what I wanted to do and then we began the treatment.

I started the medication and then went into the clinic for scans every other day. This really put my mind at ease knowing that things were being monitored properly. On one of the scans they could see that things weren’t progressing as they should but everyone was so knowledgable and were able to make tweaks to my protocol right away to ensure we got right back on track.

The next step was to have the egg collection and that procedure went really well. They managed to collect lots of eggs, half of which were donated. My half were fertilised with my partners sperm to create embryos which we then decided to freeze. I wanted to take a few months off to get back to feeling like me again and allowing my body to rest for a bit. Then we transferred in January and unfortunately that ended in a miscarriage.

Even though it was a difficult time that was handled very well by the clinic. Everyone was really kind and helpful. I had a few more months off after this and did another transfer in June last year. Now we have a healthy baby girl! Life as a mum is amazing. I’ve done lots of jobs in my lifetime but I feel like this is what I was supposed to do. She makes me the happiest.

I also feel really good about the fact I was able to share my eggs and I often think about it in hope that someone has been able to make use of them. The more that I read about IVF and other people’s stories the happier I become with my decision. I just feel like my daughter is the best thing that’s ever happened to me and if I can be a part of somebody else being able to experience that, that’s simply incredible. Thanks abc!

Ashley x