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| The
Matching Process |
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Known Donation
No matching is done. In
cases of known donation the donor can be over the age
limit of 36 years. This must be discussed with the doctor.
We strongly advise you to first have your and your prospective
donor's CMV blood tests done to see whether you are
compatible. Please speak to us for further information.
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Pool Donation
Once you have found a donor for
the pool (under the age of 36), we will in turn match
you with an anonymous donor (see below). Treatment can
only start once the pool donor has had her egg collection.
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Anonymous Donation
If a donor came forward on your
advertising campaign, she may still not be able to go
through treatment with you for the reasons outlined
below:
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- Ethnic group is different
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- Cystic Fibrosis carriers must be matched with a
recipient whose husband is not a carrier
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- Physical characteristics are very different i.e.
colouring
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- The donor wishes to start in a month when the recipient
is not available or cannot be medically prepared
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- The donor has requested her eggs to go to a recipient
of a certain social background (or certain age group
etc.), which the recipient does not match e.g. being
in a heterosexual relationship
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- You will have to be tested for CMV (Cytomegalovirus).
If you test positive, you will be able to receive
eggs from any donor. However, if you test negative,
your donor will also have to be CMV negative. It is
said that approximately 75% of the population carry
this virus
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any of these incidences we match the donor with another
patient from the programme and match you with a suitable
donor from the pool. We can give you a physical description
of the donor as well as a certain amount of personal background.
The amount of personal information we can give you is
dictated by how much the donor wants to tell us. Here
is an example of the personal information we may have
about a donor.
"The donor has been married for
6 years and has two sons aged 2 and 4, both born by
natural delivery. She enjoyed her school days very much
and her favourite subject was history. Since leaving
school she has travelled around parts of Australia and
New Zealand before going back to college to complete
her education. She is now a qualified Legal Secretary
but has taken a break from work to raise her two sons.
She describes herself as loyal, energetic, caring, outspoken
and as having a good sense of humour. She wanted to
donate because she feels strongly that everyone should
have the chance to have a family. She does not wish
to have any more children."
This information is in addition
to the personal medical history of the patient. We try
to match you with a donor based on the requirements
on your registration form. We normally ask you to decide
on whether you will accept this donor within 1-2 days.
We must point out that we do not provide donors as per
specification, i.e. Give them IQ tests or look for someone
who is "good looking", musically talented
etc. We only
match people that are as close in appearance to yourself
as possible, unless you tell us that the appearance
does not matter. We will never
match you with a person from a different race to your
own and we will make every effort to match you and your
donor's personalities. Personality tests will be administered
to both parties at your first consultation.
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Possible
Problems
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Our
aim is to match you and put you through treatment in the
shortest possible period of time without complications.
Unfortunately, this does not always happen due to circumstances
beyond our control. There are various things that can
go wrong:
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- We matched you with a donor and you
are ready to start treatment, but the donor withdraws.
This may happen for a number of reasons. You will
be placed back onto the waiting list at the same position
where you were before.
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- We matched you with a donor and the donor falls
ill or is unable to go ahead with the treatment for
several weeks. You will need to decide whether to
wait for the donor or whether you would like to go
onto the priority waiting list. If the donor is a
particularly good match for you, it might be sensible
to wait a while. You can discuss these options with
us.
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- You have been matched, but need to
postpone your treatment for any reason (e.g. If you
would need a laparoscopy or have fibroids removed).
We would need to ask the donor whether she is prepared
to wait. If not, you will have to wait for another
suitable donor. The reason for this is that you are
required to have all the necessary checks and be completely
ready for the donor cycle.
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- You go through treatment, but do not become pregnant.
If you wish to try another egg donation treatment,
your name will be placed at the bottom of the waiting
list. If you would like to improve your chances of
getting treatment done soon, you would need to advertise
again.
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- You have advertised, gone through treatment, but
did not become pregnant. Although you may have had
many responses at the time, we do not "keep"
any donors for any specific patient for a future donation
and you would also be placed at the bottom of the
waiting list and need to advertise again.
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- Both you and the donor have started the treatment,
but the donor failed to produce any eggs. You will
be placed onto our priority waiting list.
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- You have agreed to a match, but subsequently declined
the donor for reasons other then medical. You will
be placed back onto the normal waiting list where
you were.
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We
are here to answer any of your questions. Please do not
hesitate to contact us - whether you would like something
to be explained or just need some advice. It is important
that you fully understand the process before your treatment.
Our office hours are Monday to Friday, 09:00 to 17:30.
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following linked sections explain the process in detail:
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