How many eggs do you have anyway? By guest blogger Sharon LaMothe

I attended a fascinating session lead by Dr. David Adamson, MD at this years SMART ART XI. His topic was Careers, Babies and Biological Clocks. I wanted to share one particular tid-bit that I don't think is in your typical woman's magazine or doctors office reading material.

Just how many eggs do we women have anyway? Have you ever wondered? I never have. I just figured that I had what I needed and left it at that. I never gave my husbands sperm a thought either...it seemed to be there when it was needed (and sometimes even when it was not! BTW male fertility drops to 70% in their 50's) But I never had a sit down with girl friends and chatted over how many eggs we had left or where they all came from. We might have talked about their expiration date but we used the word 'menopause' to describe those topics!
        
Dr. Adamson showed a slide that said this: In Utero (aprox at 5 months) an unborn baby girl has about 4 Million Eggs. At birth that same baby girl will have about 700,000 eggs and at puberty a young girl would have approximately 350,000! And just so you know...at menopause the number is about 1000 eggs and they are not doing well! Most of these eggs are lost to artesia, not ovulation which means that they are lost to the cells dying.

As you can see, we are born with all the eggs we will ever have. Amazing to know but now the question is just what will we do with those eggs?


Sharon LaMothe Infertility Answers, Inc. http://infertilityanswers.org/ LaMothe Services, LLC http://lamotheservices.com/ *Please note: Sharon LaMothe is not a MD, is not an attorney nor does she hold a mental health degree. All advice given is solely the experienced opinion of Ms. LaMothe. If you have any medical, legal or psychological questions or concerns, please contact your own Doctor, Attorney or Mental Health Professional.

Egg Sharing: A better way to cheaper eggs? By Guest Blogger Sharon LaMothe

Although I am not an egg donation expert by any means, I would like to broach the subject of egg sharing. It's not a common situation however, with the cost of IVF and Egg Donation in general, more Intended Parents are looking at ways to cut back the costs of ART and egg sharing can be one way.

Sharon LaMothe, Infertility Answers, Inc.

Egg Sharing can be done when two Intended Parents/Couples like the same egg donor and want to share her egg donation. If she has a good track record of producing many eggs per medicated cycle or there is an agreement up front of how the split will be determined then it can work out to everyone's advantage. Because an egg donor does not get compensated per egg...just per donation, she is not compromised in anyway. The IP's will split all the costs regarding her fee, medication, egg retrieval, travel etc. The eggs then would be divided per the agreement and fertilized with each IP's sperm. Then following the protocol, the embryo transfer will take place per the RE's orders.

How do you find someone willing to share an egg donor? Talk to your clinic, if they have an in-house donation program. Tell the coordinator that you are interested in egg sharing and what you are looking for in a donor. She/he can put the word out to potential patients and see if anyone is also interested in the same type of donor. This same conversation can be had with the egg donation agency. Some agencies do not advocate shared donations. Its best to know that before you sign on with them so all the options are open. (I would like to note that a couple going through IVF with more then enough eggs for themselves maybe open to "donating" the extra eggs in return for the retrieval procedure or other costs covered by the recipient couple. This is something else that can be discussed with your Doctor.)
One issue to consider is the emotional aspect. How would one party feel if the other did not conceive? Or should that information be shared in the first place? When considering the costs of IVF and ART in general, Egg Sharing may be one of the less costly solutions.

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Sharon LaMothe has been in the Infertility Industry since 1998 when she signed her first Gestational Surrogacy contract. She subsequently gave birth to twin girls and in 2000 was invited to join a FL law firm recruiting & managing surrogacy arrangements. After leaving the legal arena in 2003, Sharon then co-owned and operated Surrogacy Consultants of Florida, LLC, the first successful independent surrogacy agency in Florida. Sharon participates on many advisory boards well as being a member of the American Society of Reproductive Medicine. In January 2005 Sharon once again became a Gestational Carrier and gave birth to girl/boy twins for a same sex New York couple using Donor Eggs. She is currently the owner of Infertility Answers, Inc. & the Creator of Surrogacy 101. Sharon is also the Owner of LaMothe Services, LLC http://lamotheservices.com, an Assisted Reproductive Technology business solutions service. Sharon currently guides couples who need more information regarding their Third Party Family Options. You may follow Sharon on Twitter http://twitter.com/SharonLaMothe

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 Please note:

Heartfelt Egg Donation, LLC does not coordinate shared Egg Donation Cycles at this time.