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The welcoming Lister Fertility Clinic reception

Give the ultimate gift

Donate at The Lister Fertility Clinic you could make a persons dream of having a child, come true

The Lister Fertility Clinic

A consultation will be required

Donors can see a counsellor during the process

arah Bretton*, 44, is able to have five hours of sleep a night when her threemonth-old son, Edward, is having a bad day not that shes complaining. Edward was born after a two-year infertility journey, which saw her and her husband, John, 45, spend thousands of pounds on In vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment. After the third unsuccessful round, her consultant at The Lister Fertility Clinic in Chelsea, London, advised her to try egg donation. It was difficult to hear that at first, says Sarah. John and I didnt meet until I was 38 and we thought things would happen naturally. When they didnt, we assumed IVF would work. My consultant at The Lister Fertility Clinic had told me that I had less than 5% chance of giving birth because of my age and egg quality, but we wanted to try. After three cycles, we decided it was time to move on to egg donation, where my chances of giving birth to a child jumped to 44%. We decided that it was the right thing to do for us as we felt safe with the team at the clinic. To know that someone else wanted to help me was also very reassuring.

advised to consider donation. So are women who have had chemotherapy, premature menopause or carry genetic diseases. I cannot express how thankful I am I never gave up on the idea that
An embryologist in The Lister Fertility Clinics recently refurbished lab

Patricia Stevens smile. She donated after seeing an advert in a local paper and has since donated to two women at The Lister Fertility Clinic; both of the ladies she donated to are now pregnant. When I found out they were pregnant, it was amazing news, she says. I called twice; the first time it was too early to tell. Im very happy for both of them! I really wanted to know if everything went OK and it is quite a feeling to know that I helped them fulfil their dream.

Rebecca Matthews, 33, a mother-of-three, echoed Janes sentiments and said she decided to donate at The Lister Fertility Clinic because she felt many couples who want children should be given the chance. Others take getting pregnant for granted, says Rebecca. I want to make a difference to strangers by helping them, showing that the world is not as cruel as some people may think. More than 1,200 babies have been born as a result of The Lister Fertility Clinics egg donation team. The programme began 15 years ago and has since gone from strength to strength.

part will impact their fertility. Dr Thum says: Egg donation does not lead to early menopause or reduced fertility; some women may worry that by donating 10-12 eggs, it causes her to start the menopause a year or so earlier; this is not the case. In a natural menstrual cycle, the body actually utilises 10-20 eggs from the ovaries and then selects the best one for ovulation. The left over eggs from that particular menstrual cycle are all wasted. In egg donation, we use some medication

throughout the treatment or at any point afterwards, if they have further questions.

Team work
The egg donation team is made up of four nurses and two administrators who are always on hand to respond to any questions the donor has. Sister Lizzy Nair in the egg donation department says: With six members of staff, we are able to work closely as a team and with everyone in our care; we know what is happening with all of our patients cycles. This means we are able to provide a personalised approach to our patients along with continuity of care. Most of our key members of staff have worked in the egg donation department for years. Donors visit the clinic approximately six times over the course of three months. We appreciate that our donors are taking time out of their busy lives to help other people and we do our best to work with their schedules, Lizzy says. We are open Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm and are able to provide discreet medical notes for people who need to provide any documentation to employers to authorise their continued absences. FOR MORE INFORMATION Call 020 7881 4078 or email rutho@lfclinic.com

Making a difference
Patricia found her treatment at the clinic such a rewarding experience, she has decided to donate again before she turns 36, which is the cut off age for egg donation at The Lister Fertility Clinic. Her treatment involves going to the clinic, which is based near Sloane Square and Victoria stations in London, five or six times. Medication is injected to stimulate the ovaries the eggs are then collected under a very light general anaesthetic. Donors leave the clinic four hours after egg collection and they are given 750 for their time and effort throughout the cycle. Jane Brook, a 25-year-old PhD student is already a mother-of-one. She decided to volunteer as a donor because she could not imagine how truly painful infertility must be. Jane says: I feel that by donating, I can give a valuable gift and help remedy this cruel unfairness in the world. Hopefully, I can make a prospective parent very happy with my donation.

The donor process

Egg donation coordinator, Ruth OKelly-Lynch, says: We see more than 20 new donors a month now, so the programme is definitely growing, but there is always a need for more donors. There are approximately 100 women on The Lister Fertility Clinics various ethnic waiting lists. We have been doing this for so long that the doctors really are the top experts in the field of egg donating. Our first concern is always to address the question: Is donation right for the donor?. We really want to provide women with all the information they need to make a decision. This involves seeing one of The Lister Fertility Clinics highly respected private consultants. Hormone blood tests and scans are done to assess a donors fertility and the process is explained in a simple but detailed way so that everything is clear. Dr Yau Thum, who heads the egg donation department, says women often worry if taking

by donating an egg, I could give a valuable gift and help remedy this cruel unfairness
to stimulate all of the eggs selected for that menstrual cycle to become mature and then collect the eggs for donation. Therefore, donating does not reduce the donors fertility. Donors also meet a fertility counsellor to discuss the legal and social implications of giving eggs and answer any other questions they have about the whole process. In the UK, anyone conceived though donation will have the right to request identifying information about the donor when they are an adult (after the age of 18). Donors can continue to see the counsellor, free of charge,

A special gift
Sarah joined the waiting list and, within six months, she was matched with a donor. Just nine months later, she gave birth to her first child. Women like Sarah, who are not able to become pregnant, or miscarry with their own eggs, are
*All names have been changed to protect anonymity

I would have a child, she says. When hes older, I plan on telling Edward about the very special donor who gave us such an incredible gift. It is stories like these that make 35-year-old compliance worker