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MW Families

KariKari Posts: 1,765
edited November -1 in Pregnancy and Babies
Crap, crap, crap. Anyone who used MWSB, they're closed. Still waiting to hear what this means for my vials on ice, but not too optimistic. The answering machine said they're phasing out operations, not taking donations, not taking new orders, still long-term storing vials, but no longer shipping specimens. Have a call in to Joanne to see if this means they'll ship my stored vials, but just not new orders.

Looks like I'll be an official NW member soon.
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    ZenZen Posts: 2,942
    edited November -1
    Not sure what it means that they'll store but not ship! Maybe you can get them to ship to NW for storage?
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    LKLK Posts: 711
    edited November -1
    Do you have a teaching hospital near you with a fertility center? If so you may be able to store them there for a fee. I know in CT we have a few hospitals that will do that~we never needed to so I'm not sure of all the details. Good luck!!
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    KYSTKYST Posts: 148
    edited November -1
    Are you supposed to go pick them up? Surely they will ship them to you. I know you must be so stressed right now. Let us know what you find out.
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    2moms2moms Posts: 731 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Kari-
    There' a post on the TTC side that Joanne was let go in January. We didn't use MW but I wanted to pass the information on to you. Let us know what happens!
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    Shaeley MaeShaeley Mae Posts: 1,731
    edited November -1
    Surely you have a legal and binding contract with them .....?
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    Beth81392Beth81392 Posts: 486
    edited November -1
    GOod Luck, from what I was reading on a MW board they are giving money back but nothing else. I am pregnant with a MW baby, and I am very happy that I got pregnant when I did but very nervous about the outcome.

    Beth
    Words cannot even begin to describe how much I love these kids
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    GaBeekeeperGaBeekeeper Posts: 916
    edited November -1
    when was the post about Joanne posted? I talked to her in February and she was still there.
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    onemorebabyonemorebaby Posts: 472
    edited November -1
    wow. i am a mw user... what i had left has been stored at my re's office - so i didn't know. wow.
    My blog! www.ifyoulivedhereidknowyourname.blogspot.com
    Welcome Baby Madelynn! 11/29/11
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    KariKari Posts: 1,765
    edited November -1
    Someone on the BabyCenter MW board said they talked to Joanne in the office yesterday. I've also heard she was let go at the end of January. Someone else did some research and discovered that the organization behind the sperm bank and other cryogenic facilities in that town has declared bankruptcy. No one has returned my phone message in two days. I'm going to try to catch someone "live" in the office and see what's going on with my pre-purchased vials. I believe I still have two. My legally-binding contract consists of a receipt that says I purchased eight vials back in August of '09. I have no clue where to store the vials if they'll give them to me now, so I may be TTC asap if they'll release them to me . . . or take the cash option if that's the only thing they'll offer. But, if they really declared bankruptcy, I may be out. The cash doesn't bother me as much as the idea that I may have lost the only chance for a biological sibling for Justin.
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    TrishlettesTrishlettes Posts: 674
    edited November -1
    Hey kari there is a new post on the babycenter MW board. you might want to peruse it.
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    KariKari Posts: 1,765
    edited November -1
    Yeah, I saw it. It's confusing that there are so many different stories floating around. I think I'm going to send Joanne an e-mail, state the three predominant rumors, give my TTC time frame, and ask what I should expect from them or if I should move on.
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    lavinalavina Posts: 23
    edited November -1
    A few years a go one of my husbands competitors filed bankruptcy and the couple of production guys he hired had their persoanl equiptment locked inside the building when they closed the doors. Anyway they had to hire attorneys and petition the a claim with the bankruptcy courts that it belonged to them. That was a chapter 7, a chapter 13 would be different. I hope if they declared it's 13, I think it would be less complicated.
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    g2mom2bg2mom2b Posts: 19
    edited November -1
    Is this the second bank that has closed recently? Wasnt there another one a few months ago? I wonder whats going on. Makes me nervous.
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    Shaeley MaeShaeley Mae Posts: 1,731
    edited November -1
    I think their prices are so competative that they have trouble covering all of their operating costs.
    Either that, or (depending on where they are located), they may not have a good donor base (and as we all know, a good selection of donors is important).
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    lavinalavina Posts: 23
    edited November -1
    g2mom2b wrote:
    Is this the second bank that has closed recently? Wasnt there another one a few months ago? I wonder whats going on. Makes me nervous.

    I was thinking the same thing. My husband and I keep discussing buying some of our donor and we never even considered the what if they fold scenario. A full blooded sibling is not important to us, but I would be incredibly upset to loose the opportutnity if I owned vials already.
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    KariKari Posts: 1,765
    edited November -1
    According to someone who talked with Joanne, she said that all sperm banks are down about 30% in sales (probably part of the recession). Still, they must have a decent profit margin given that they pay the guys about $45 per good donation and then sell that lot as 2-5 vials to us consumers. So even at $200 a vial, they should be making at minimum of $355 per donation, minus their testing and storage expenses.

    They disabled their e-mail account late last week. Earlier this week all but the homepage of the website was disabled. Today the website domain is up for sale, meaning they surrendered it. Really not a good sign. I called them this afternoon and only got the machine . . . again. This would've been about 1:30 or 2:30 their time.
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    Beth81392Beth81392 Posts: 486
    edited November -1
    that is really frightening!
    Words cannot even begin to describe how much I love these kids
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    smartycat92smartycat92 Posts: 564
    edited November -1
    Kari, I am so sorry you are going through this
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    indigoscotindigoscot Posts: 246
    edited November -1
    wow, this REALLY sucks. i would be SO mad. :(

    mw was one of the banks we considered way back when (in early 2006!!) but discounted it due to their practise of telling customers about super donors and the excessive number of babies those donors might have. it felt a little off to us (no offence intended to anyone using mw, this was just our opinion).

    we ended up using ccb and as far as i know (we stored all our remaining vials at the re's office) they are doing great.

    g
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    KariKari Posts: 1,765
    edited November -1
    I got a call from Vicki, the secretary, today regarding my message I left last week concerning my remaining two vials. Of course, the message said they sent my remaining 3 vials to me back in September (they did, but I'd already O'd so I used one vial just in case the egg was still alive and returned the remaining two). I called back and gave the date of initial freeze and code numbers of the 3 vials so they could look for them, but if they're truly being investigated by the FDA and shutting down, I don't know if they'll look for them.
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    Hopeful2010Hopeful2010 Posts: 134
    edited November -1
    So Kari, does it sound like they are not acknowledging that you still have the 2 vials in storage? Maybe I misunderstood your post but sounded like they are saying they already sent your remaining 3 and not saying you sent 2 back to be in storage. I hope you get it figured out. MW was one bank I was looking at before. Glad now I didn't. I am a little surprised because of their location that they would have problems.
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    Hopeful2010Hopeful2010 Posts: 134
    edited November -1
    Kitty:


    Search Results
    Midwest Sperm Bank
    NOTICE: This domain name expired on 03/27/2011 and is pending renewal or deletion. This web page is parked FREE, courtesy of GoDaddy.com. midwestspermbank. ...
    www.midwestspermbank.com/ - Cached - Similar
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    HopingForBFPHopingForBFP Posts: 520
    edited November -1
    I wish I had vials saved, looks like Sydnee wont have a full sibling.
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    BFP- 8/9/09 at 10DPO, after 4 years TTC. Sydnee born on April 14th 2010. BFP #2 at 11DPO 9/29/12. Due 6/11/13
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    cocobaycocobay Posts: 1,318
    edited November -1
    I am currently a bankruptcy paralegal and although the laws vary state to state I wish I could give you some advice. I have only done a few Chapter 11 bankruptcies (which is what MW will have to file because they are a business). My normal day to day cases are Chapter 7 and 13 which are consumer cases. I will try to do some research and let you know what I come up with. So sorry you are going through this.
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    KariKari Posts: 1,765
    edited November -1
    They're offering refunds, but it just seems that the record-keeping was off in my case, or that the person doing the record-keeping is no longer with the company. Supposedly she was let go a while ago, but some people have called and caught her in the office. No call on my answering machine today, so I'm assuming they haven't had a chance to dig through the freezer yet.
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    nervouswrecknervouswreck Posts: 379
    edited November -1
    Thats very scary. I actually was registered with them for the past two years, but something seemed off and I never ordered from them . It is terrible that they are only offering refunds.. At the very most. If you have already paid for the vials it seems unscrupulous to not let you take possesion of them.
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