Christmas Wishes from Altrui
We hope that this finds you well, healthy and safe.
2020 has been an interesting year for us all. It has challenged us in so many ways – from our ideas of health and safety to how we socialise and work. It’s forced us to find ways to be close while staying apart. We really hope that this holiday will offer some welcome rest and relaxation.
Related Articles
Fertility in 2020
Furthermore, you can attend appointments without breaking any rules, regardless of which Tier you happen to be in.
Donors in 2020
We continue to be in awe of these incredible women who, despite the circumstances, have come forward to be there for someone else. The number of women who chose to donate with Altrui nearly doubled this year and we are incredibly proud of this, and of them.
Our satellite pathway with Apricity enables donors to have virtual consultations, blood tests at home and scans locally (if possible) and this has helped donors who were initially hesitant due to travel. We continue to give donors huge support, making the process as simple, quick and easy as we can.
The Apricity satellite pathway is one that you can also choose once matched. We hope that through it, we can help more and more people in the UK avoid the uncertainties of going abroad.
Check out Apricity
Webinars
We held two webinars this year with Becky Kearns of Defining Mum. In case you missed them, or would like to dip in again, you can watch them here:
Webinar 1: Donor Decisions & Beyond (May 2020, 90 mins)
Webinar 2: Discovering Donation (Sept 2020, 120 mins)
The format is similar, but the speakers are different. Each webinar has insight from a counsellor, an Altrui lead, a recipient and a donor (the second one has two!).
We received very positive feedback, and hope these webinars can help women and couples explore egg donation from the comfort of their homes.
View webinars
Further Reading
We think it’s so important for people to be as informed as possible on their likely chances of success before going in to any fertility treatment. We’ve shared a few bits of information on our website and newsletter over the past few months, as well as Apricity’s Fertility Predictor (recently featured on BBC Click), which helps estimate average chances of success using different fertility treatments.
In case you missed them, the following links offer information on egg donation success rates. Most significantly, we saw that where donor eggs are used for older women, higher birth rates can be seen, although egg donation is not ‘widely used’ (“18% of patients over 40 used donor eggs in their treatment in 2018”). Understandably, egg donation may not always be the preferred option, but it is apparent that it is a very effective option for many women over 40.
Egg Donation Success Rates
HFEA Statistics
Frozen vs. Fresh: which is best?
Notes from the front line:
Sometimes battling through the struggle of infertility, waiting for a donor and feeling alone just gets too much, especially during this epic journey through Covid. If you’re a little battle weary, remember that we are here to support you and that there are amazing women out there who are willing to help. We’ll sign off with a few words from a couple of just incredible donors:
“It is such an amazing feeling donating your eggs and if I could bottle this feeling up I would give you all a share.”
“There are no words to describe the true sense of achievement and happiness that I felt after my donation. To be able to give a couple the most amazing gift of a child and play a part in such a special process was worth every minute of my time. I truly wish the best for my recipient couple and hope that their pregnancy is a smooth and successful one.”
And finally…
“Being a donor has been the most exceptional experience of my life. To help someone achieve their dream of creating a family is the greatest gift you can ever give and one that can never be described through words.
If you would like to hear more from some of our donors about why they donated eggs, have a look at our website:
Testimonials
From all of us at Altrui, we wish you a very Merry Christmas, and a joyous, happy New Year.
