When to use a different donor?

[pokeyAC]

We have tried 5 times with the same donor.  Frozen, WTBK, from TSBC.  The counts and motility have always been good.  Around 50 million and I can't remember the motility but I think above 30%.  He has had 3 births.  I got pregnant once but had a very early loss.  We are having a hard time picking a new donor, and my wife really likes our current one.  We're not sure if we should go with someone else.  My wife seems to think the issue is probably on my side and not with the donor.  There's no way to know at this point, but I feel like if it hasn't worked, maybe a new donor could do the trick.  I feel like we're always trying something new and hoping that combination does the trick, but we don't really know what makes a difference.  Does anyone have any logical reasons why we should go with a new donor?  I don't know what the general thinking is.  I asked a midwife once if we should switch after 3 times, and she said it depends on several factors.  Anyway, I think I'm rambling now.  I would love to hear your thoughts.  Thank you.

[NZmumof2]

No idea what the "official line" is on this but we have used the same donor for all four kids, took me 6 goes to conceive with both my IUI kids, I did use clomid with the first after three non medicated cycles and injectables with the 2 after three failed clomid cycles.  My current pregnancy is with my partners egg and I doubt that at 36 I would have conceived with my own as they seem to have always been substandard.  That's not normal though - yours could well be fine, the chance of conceiving per month at 37 (that's your age right) is about 10%, so 5 months is not long.  Have you had basic bloods done to check out your ovaries etc?

Hope it happens soon Pokey!

[pokeyAC]

Thank you!  That is very helpful.  I was hoping to hear how long people tried with the same donor and that they did get pregnant.  I have had all the testing done and I seem to be producing a good amount of eggs but we don't know the quality without doing IVF.  All of my levels were good except that my progesterone was a little low, but the medications seem to help that.  I am doing letrozole with injectables this cycle.  We tried 3 times with one donor and then 5 times with the second. 

[KnittingTigers]

All three times I got pregnant, it was the first time I'd used that particular donor. But, my repeat misses were with donors with lower counts than yours. I would try once more and then maybe consider switching it up for a month?
 

[wishin'&hopin']

We based our decision making about how frequently we would try with a particular donor on the stats TSBC has--80% of their clients were pregnant by the 7th try.  So, we decided to give things 7 trys before switching either donors or gestational parent (in the case of our second round of trying for a second kiddo).  

[Cananny]

We were in the same boat.. tried 5 times with same donor... and the month we got pregnant.. i wanted to change donors.. My DP said she didnt really like the other choices we had so we stuck with our donor.. He did the trick.. he had like an 80 million count and 65 percent mobility... so i blame his counts for the triplets ;) I for one am glad we didnt change..

also this was the month I did no accupuncture, nothing extra. just the meds my re prescribed...

It is all a gamble and who knows why I got pregnant... and pregnant with triplets having 3 mature follicles!!

good luck Pokey

[pokeyAC]

So here's what we decided.  We looked at the donor list again and narrowed it down to a top 3.  #1 and #1 had counts in the 40 millions.  #3 had a 58 million count and our current donor had 48 million.  We ordered the long profile and photo for #3 and looked at those.  He is very healthy, not much disease in the family, great teeth and 20/20 vision.  He's an artist.  We decided to go with #3 and the 58 million count.  Here's hoping those extra 10 million swimmers do the trick!  I pick them up tomorrow.   Thank you everyone for your input.  It was very helpful.  This was a tough decision. 

[KnittingTigers]

Originally Posted by pokeyAC 

So here's what we decided.  We looked at the donor list again and narrowed it down to a top 3.  #1 and #1 had counts in the 40 millions.  #3 had a 58 million count and our current donor had 48 million.  We ordered the long profile and photo for #3 and looked at those.  He is very healthy, not much disease in the family, great teeth and 20/20 vision.  He's an artist.  We decided to go with #3 and the 58 million count.  Here's hoping those extra 10 million swimmers do the trick!  I pick them up tomorrow.   Thank you everyone for your input.  It was very helpful.  This was a tough decision. 

Yeah! Fingers crossed that this is your last pickup!

[HappyHappyMommy]

Originally Posted by pokeyAC 

We decided to go with #3 and the 58 million count.  Here's hoping those extra 10 million swimmers do the trick!  I pick them up tomorrow.   Thank you everyone for your input.  It was very helpful.  This was a tough decision. 

Fingers crossed and sending lots of to you.