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How many vials for a full sibling??

maria_79maria_79 Posts: 6
edited March 2014 in Pregnancy and Babies
Hello,

I'm having a hard time deciding if I should buy more vials of our daughter's donor. We currently have 8 vials in storage. I got pregnant with our daughter on my 3rd IUI(with Femara) but it was the first IUI with our daughter's donor. We only used one vial 24 hours after a positive ovulation test. We plan to start TTC baby #2 this summer or fall and plan to start with doing an in office IUI only using one vial each cycle again. I was 31 when I conceived my daughter but I'll be 35 in July so I'm thinking that maybe I should buy at least a couple more vials before her donor is retired. He's been donating for over 5 years and is close to reaching to his family limit so I'm thinking he'll be retired sometime this year. My husband thinks that 8 vials will be plenty and thinks I'll get pregnant quickly again but I'm just not so sure because I'm older now. It's very important to us that our children be from the same donor. What do you all think?
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Comments

  • coryandamandacoryandamanda Posts: 1,527
    edited November -1
    If it is important I say better safe than sorry. I would get more. If there are that many sibs out there then chances are someone would buy your leftovers from you if you have any for a chance for a sibling for themselves.
    July 4, 2015
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  • ShannyShanny Posts: 2,456
    edited November -1
    ^exactly. If finances allow you to buy more I certainly would.
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  • TxMoms2BTxMoms2B Posts: 532
    edited November -1
    I bought 12 vials before TTC my son. We used 2 the first cycle and it worked, leaving us with 10. I felt comfortable with that many vials for a full sibling. Now we're TTC #2 about four years after I conceived my son, and I've blown through almost all of our vials! We're now discussing which NEW donor to choose if we don't get preggo in the next couple of cycles. So, I would buy as many as you could possibly afford. If its just 1 more...that's one more chance.
  • maria_79maria_79 Posts: 6
    edited November -1
    Thank you your replies. I appreciate your input! I think I will go ahead and get on the wait list to buy more vials...especially after reading your story TxMom28! I hope that you are successful in the next couple of cycles so you don't have to worry about searching for a new donor! Have you been using one or two vials per cycle? Are you using any fertility meds? I plan to use Femara again for 2-3 cycles and then move to injectables after that if needed.

    coryandamanda: You have a good point about half sibling families possibly wanting to buy any extra vials in the future. I'm in contact with quite a few families now and I'm sure that more will connect with us in the future so there's a good possibility that someone in our donor sibling group will want them. Did you and your partner conceive all of your children from the same donor?
  • EMG_RELEMG_REL Posts: 2,379
    edited November -1
    We only bought 8 vials to store and now regret it because I'm currently in our 8th cycle of TTC #2, so this is our last shot before having to choose another donor. Hindsight is 20/20. Good luck!
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  • aplusaaplusa Posts: 1,919
    edited November -1
    This was my biggest fear. I don't even want to say how many vials we used to get our first pregnancy, but it was a lot. When we finally moved on to IVF, we bought 10 vials of our donor and have those in storage and now we also have embryos in storage. I bring this up because our donor is already sold out and other donor families have expressed interest in our vials. I think you'd likely be safe buying more and selling them if you don't need them!

    Our oldest donor sibling isn't even a year - people will always need vials!
    Good luck!
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    Lucky Cycle 14: IVF!! Antagonist Cycle with Lupron Trigger
  • fischfisch Posts: 570 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    We have two kids by two different donors...we each carried, so they are not biologically related. However, it no longer seems like a factor, we had 17 vials saved for a sibling. Went through them in 9 months..the last two with an re. We photo matched our donor to pick a new donor and that worked out wonderfully for us.
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  • palegreenpalegreen Posts: 1,478
    edited November -1
    We were very worried about this as well. We started out with 14 vials and were very lucky to have quick success with both pregnancies. Even starting out with 13 vials when we were TTC our second, we had planned to do 3 at home cycles before going to the RE for assistance. We're pretty set on only having two, but wanted to leave the option open for a 3rd if we lost all of our marbles and decided to try for another.
    Our donor is OLD (2003) and when we purchased his vials, we bought all but one, so we knew whatever we had was it. As it turned out, we have enough vials left that we could sell them to another family and there's potentially enough for more than one child.
    It all plays out differently for everyone, so the more vials you have, the better off you are (and less stressed). You can always sell the extra vials when your family is complete. :)
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  • coryandamandacoryandamanda Posts: 1,527
    edited November -1
    Yes all our children are from the same donor. We had bought a lot, were about to run out when ttc#3, the bank found more in inventory when they changed owners, we bought all they found and then ended up with extra after #4 and we were done LOL
    July 4, 2015
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  • Jen727BFJen727BF Posts: 2,304
    edited November -1
    We struggled with this too. Initially we bought 4 of this donor and when DW became pregnant on the first vial, we bought 6 more vials. Then when I saw our retired donors supply getting low, We decided to buy more. We have a total of 12 & we worry if it will be enough. I agree with pp, buy as many as you can afford to, its like buying insurance on using the same donor.
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    TTC No. 2 since Aug. 2014; IVF #1 - Cxld; IVF #2 - BFN
  • maria_79maria_79 Posts: 6
    edited November -1
    Thank you for all of your stories and suggestions! I'm going to call our sperm bank tomorrow and see if there is room on the wait list... sorry I forgot to mention that we didn't end up using NW. I hope that it's okay that I'm still posting here. I had joined back when I thought we were going to use a NW donor.

    We had originally thought we'd want to have enough stored for 2 more children so we had planned to buy 4 more for a total of 12. However, we're now 99% sure that we only want to have 1 more child so we(more my husband) thought that 8 would be plenty. Now I'm thinking we should still buy more just to be sure that it's enough to help us conceive a 2nd baby. I'm going to show my husband this thread to help convince him that we should buy more...lol. Thanks again! :D
  • maria_79maria_79 Posts: 6
    edited March 2014
    Do most of you use 2 vials per cycle? We plan to just stick with 1 vial per cycle, doing an IUI the morning/afternoon after getting a positive ovulation test. That worked for us before so I'm hoping it will again. I figure that I'm probably just going to buy 2 more vials, for a total of 10. I'm thinking that we'll do up to 8 cycles of IUI(maybe moving to injectables/trigger if not pregnant after 3 cycles on Femara) and then save the last 2 for the possibility of IVF. I really don't think I'll want to do more than 8 IUIs total. I'll save my 2 ICI vials for last in case we have to do IVF. And if IVF/FET doesn't work then I think we'll just accept it and be happy and thankful with our one little girl. I just hope that if it comes to that in the future, that I won't regret not buying just a couple/few more vials of our donor. Maybe I should buy 4 or 5 more. Can you tell I'm indecisive?!...lol. :P

    2momsinseattle: I hope that you have quick success and it doesn't come down to using your last vial for IVF. I can imagine that would be very nerve-wracking!


    coryandamanda: That's awesome that you and your partner were able to use the same donor for all of you children! 4 is a great number! :)

    palegreen: That's great that you had quick success and that you were able to use the remaining vials to help another family! I'm thinking that it will make me happy if I am able to help another donor sibling family with any extra vials we still have after baby #2. I have a feeling that someone will want our extra vials in the future as my daughter's donor always has a wait list.

    EMG_REL: I hope that this cycle is successful! I'm sure you're stressed. Best wishes!

    fisch: I'm glad that it all worked out and you got your 2nd baby even though you had to pick a new donor. :)

    Jen727BF: I think 12 is a really good number of vials! I hope it's more than enough to give you another child. Good luck!
  • ShannyShanny Posts: 2,456
    edited November -1
    Maria - I think the bottom line is you'll find some stories where people ran out of vials and perhaps regret not buying/or being able to buy more. But I've never heard anyone say they regretted buying and storing vials they never used. Do we hem and haw and grumble about the expense? Sure, but it isn't a regret I'd say. Just thought I'd throw that out though it sounds like you've got a good plan!
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  • maria_79maria_79 Posts: 6
    edited March 2014
    Shanny,

    Thank you for your input and yes I agree. I think this conversation has helped me to realize that I will feel better about having bought at least a couple more vials while I can. Even if I end up getting pregnant after the first IUI I won't regret it because I can always possibly sell them to an in need half sibling family in the future or back to the sperm bank for 1/2 what we payed. My husband and I talked and he is fine with buying 2 more vials so I am now on the wait list. Now I just don't know whether to buy ICI or IUI vials. I'm leaning towards IUI or one of each. Decisions, decisions...lol.
  • yfnryfnr Posts: 418
    edited November -1
    When the twins were about one I purchased ten vials of our donor for a sibling. I used seven vials to get pregnant with the twins and although I was worried that ten wasn't enough it was all I could afford. I just made sure I had a plan. Three tries at time with two vials each, and then six tries with a doctor with one vial. I decided that if I didn't get pregnant after eight tries it wasn't meant to be. For me, choosing another donor was not an option. Luckily I got pregnant with M on try two and was able to sell my remaining six vials to a donor family. I did regret selling those vials later thinking I wanted a fourth, but now with money as tight as it is...it was a good thing lol.
    Jamie
    Mommy to Twins plus One - donor 733
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  • maria_79maria_79 Posts: 6
    edited November -1
    yfnr wrote:
    When the twins were about one I purchased ten vials of our donor for a sibling. I used seven vials to get pregnant with the twins and although I was worried that ten wasn't enough it was all I could afford. I just made sure I had a plan. Three tries at time with two vials each, and then six tries with a doctor with one vial. I decided that if I didn't get pregnant after eight tries it wasn't meant to be. For me, choosing another donor was not an option. Luckily I got pregnant with M on try two and was able to sell my remaining six vials to a donor family. I did regret selling those vials later thinking I wanted a fourth, but now with money as tight as it is...it was a good thing lol.

    Choosing another donor is also not an option for us either so if I don't get pregnant with another baby after going through all of the vials we have then we'll just accept it and be happy with our one little girl. I'm glad that it all worked out for you and that you got three beautiful children and it's great that you also were able to help another donor family with your left over vials! I hope that they had success in adding to their family too with the vials you helped them with. It will make me happy if we can help another family out the same way sometime in the future. :)
    aplusa wrote:
    This was my biggest fear. I don't even want to say how many vials we used to get our first pregnancy, but it was a lot. When we finally moved on to IVF, we bought 10 vials of our donor and have those in storage and now we also have embryos in storage. I bring this up because our donor is already sold out and other donor families have expressed interest in our vials. I think you'd likely be safe buying more and selling them if you don't need them!

    Our oldest donor sibling isn't even a year - people will always need vials!
    Good luck!

    Some how I missed this post earlier. Wow! That's great that you have frozen embryos and 10 vials in storage for future children! That's crazy that you already have people interested in your vials! Our donor has been donating for over 5 years and ALWAYS has a wait list. I'm actually in contact with about 10 other parents/families that have children from our donor but because our donor hasn't been retired yet, I haven't had any requests for vials. I'm thinking that I will definitely want to be on the surplus side of the equation when and if there is a shortage of our donor's vials(when he stops donating). I think we've been lucky that our donor has been active for so long though. Hopefully he'll be retired sometime soon though. My guess is that he probably has at least 30-40 offspring born by now...but who knows.
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