Archive for the ‘Staff Corner’ Category
Wednesday, April 29th, 2009
 One of the questions Intended Parents ask often is “Can you recommend a good doctor?”.  Other variations of that question are “Should I stay with my current doctor?”, “Should I move to a doctor closer to where the egg donor lives?”, and sometimes “I’m not sure if I should move doctors or not – what do you think?”.
Here are the answers to those questions, in my opinion…
1) “Can you recommend a good doctor?” Yes, we can provide recommendations to you.
We have been fortunate enough to work with many of the top Reproductive Endocrinologists (”fertility doctors”) in the country, and from those experiences (and client feedback) we have a good sense of who most of the better doctors are.  We base our recommendations on a number of factors, including:
- General reputation and feedback from past patients
- Quality and professionalism of the office staff (front office, nursing, etc.)
- General compliance with current “industry standards”, including information such as number of embryos typically implanted, compliance with common testing, administration of medication, etc.  (Note that since we are not physicians, we cannot comment, and would not deign to comment, on any particular doctor’s medical protocol.  However, when we see a lower success rate and highly unusual protocol used, we get concerned…)
- General office “vibe” (for example, many clinics with in-house programs are very negative towards working with egg donor agencies.)
- Specific success rates (sometimes per SART, sometimes per our own information or in-house statistics.)
Note that we do not limit our work to any particular group or clinic, but as we gather first-hand information, we will use it to help our clients make the best choice for them.
2) “Should I stay with my current doctor?” “Should I move to a doctor closer to where the donor lives?”  That all depends…
I believe that the most important criteria in choosing or keeping your physician include:
- Your comfort level with and trust in your doctor.  If you love your doctor and totally trust him or her, as long as they are supportive of using an egg donor from an agency, definitely keep that doctor.  I think that if you are calm during the process, and are willing to do what your doctor says because you trust in that doctor, you are more likely to have a successful cycle.  This is only said from anecdotal evidence and other’s opinions, but being in a good place psychologically as you’re on buckets of hormones (and going through a somewhat surreal process) can’t help but benefit you.  Does statistical research confirm that?  I don’t know – but it sure seems logical.
- If finances are an issue (as they generally are) and you choose an egg donor from another city, you might want to consider moving to a doctor in that city.  However, if you love your current doctor, the difference in dollars is probably irrelevant – certainly in the long term.  If you do choose to use or keep a doctor in a city far from where the donor lives, make sure that you’re aware of the outside monitoring costs as early in the process as possible.  (The finance person at the doctor’s office, along with our cycle coordinator, can help you with that.)  The less surprises that happen in this process, the better.
All of BHED’s clients are assigned a Cycle Coordinator – a senior member of our staff who follows your case through from the time you choose your doctor until retrieval (and often, beyond.)  The Cycle Coordinator will be in regular contact with your doctor’s office from the time you sign your contract with us, and she will alert you if we have any unexpected challenges with the doctor’s office.  Most of the time things work out just fine.
Note that we stay with you until you become pregnant or you decide to discontinue trying. Â Your choice of doctor is certainly an important part of this process, and is one of the keys to the success of your pursuit to begin or build your family.
We look forward to helping you realize your dream through egg donation!
-Lisa Greer, BHED Managing Partner
Tags: Beverly Hills Egg Donation, fertility doctor, fertility doctors, Lisa Greer, Reproductive Endocrinologists
Posted in Staff Corner | No Comments »
Friday, April 3rd, 2009
Once you’ve reached the end of the application process and had a successful interview with a member of our donor team, our staff will add your profile to our database of donors for recipients to peruse.
Congratulations, you’re now an active donor with BHED (Beverly Hills Egg Donation)!
There can be quite a lot to do leading up to this point – gathering pictures and transcripts, doing your own research on the donation process, putting together information on your family’s medical history, and scheduling your interview – that it may seem like the flurry of activity tapers off slightly after you’ve finally been made active. Â One of the questions we get a lot is, “how long will it take for me to be matched?” Â To tell the truth, there’s no way of knowing. Â Some egg donors are matched within a matter of days, and for others it takes longer – sometimes even weeks or months. Â It’s really all a matter of the right recipient coming across your profile at the right time, and for some donors, that doesn’t happen right away.
The most important thing to do during this time is to make sure to keep your profile accurate and up-to-date. Â Review your profile occasionally and contact us with any changes in contact info, updates/successes in school or work, or new information regarding your medical history. Â Also, we always love to have new pictures to add to your profile so feel free to keep them coming! Â We store the extras on our server in case a potential recipient requests to see them.
Another big thing to keep in mind while you’re waiting to be matched is to make sure you’re easy to get in touch with. Â Sometimes a recipient has a couple of donors they’re interested in, and wants to make a decision quickly, so make sure to respond to any phone calls or emails that you get from us as promptly as possible. Â You’ll also receive a phone call from our team every three months to confirm your availability.
Finally, a great thing to do after you’ve been activated is come to one of our photo shoots! Â We hold these shoots every 4-6 weeks in West LA. Â It’s a wonderful way to get beautiful, professional photos to enhance your profile and it’s totally free to you. Â It takes just 15 minutes of your time, and you get a high-resolution jpeg of your favorite shot to keep.
Of course, you can feel free to contact us at any time with questions or to see if there’s been interest in your profile.
We look forward to seeing you matched!
Tags: egg donation, egg donation california, egg donation los angeles, egg donation process, egg donor, egg donor los angeles, egg donors
Posted in Staff Corner | No Comments »
Friday, March 20th, 2009
Often, egg donors inquire about egg donation and expect that they will be donating just one of their eggs to an infertile couple. It just doesn’t work that way. When an egg donor is matched with a recipient, they are contracted to donate the eggs that they produce in a particular menstrual cycle. During that cycle, the physician that they are seeing intentionally increases the number of eggs that are produced. While a “normal” woman might release one or two eggs a month, those numbers would be cause to cancel an egg donor cycle prior to the retrieval.
The number of eggs produced and donated in an egg donor cycle can range from about 8 to as many as 40 (although that is very, very rare). The average cycle results in a retrieval of between 15 and 20 eggs. The eggs are fertilized after retrieval, and often not all of them will successfully fertilize and develop. About 12 to 14 healthy embryos generally result from 20 eggs. Some of these embryos (possibly 2) will be transferred to the recipient or a gestational carrier, and the remainder frozen for future use.
We always encourage any questions a prospective donor might have. Please refer to our main site for more information about becoming a donor and feel free to contact us for more information.
-Ellie Klein, BHED Cycle Coordinator
Tags: egg donation, egg donor, number of eggs
Posted in Staff Corner | No Comments »
Saturday, March 14th, 2009
So many BHED (Beverly Hills Egg Donation) donors are accomplished, well-educated young women, that we thought it might be valuable to give you some highlights now and again. Our list of dedicated egg donors includes women who speak three and four languages, college graduates with 4.0 GPAs, and women working on their Master’s Degrees and even PhDs.
Among our linguists, we can count Alexa #3127 who speaks Czech, Ticiana #2995 who is a native Portuguese speaker, Thomasina #4798 who learned Italian in college and is now fluent, and Natalia #870 who speaks both Russian and Chuvash. Asha #4746 speaks four languages – English, Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu.
Our college graduates boast degrees in a wide variety of disciplines. For example, Lynn #4857 has a degree in Architecture, while Ashley #4593 graduated Summa Cum Laude with a B.A. in Theology. Jeni #3093 completed her B.S. in Economics at UCLA, Lisa #3986 has a degree in Zoology, and Lynnea #4083 is pursuing her degree in Biopsychology.
We have quite a few donors who have completed or are enrolled in Master’s programs, including Terri #4759, Jennifer #4389, Hannon #4506, and Michelle #4577.
In blogs to come, we’ll highlight state-and-nationally recognized athletes, dedicated volunteers (including several donors who have started their own non-profits), state beauty pageant winners, professional models and much more! We continue to be impressed with the outstanding and altruistic young women that are part of our donor program.
-Alexa Abrams, BHED Director of Donor Recruitment
Tags: Beverly Hills Egg Donation, egg donation agencies, egg donation agency, egg donation california, egg donation los angeles, egg donor, egg donor database, egg donor los angeles, egg donors
Posted in Staff Corner | No Comments »
Tuesday, February 10th, 2009
When you finally make your decision and choose an egg donor it is totally natural to want to get started right away. Â Many recipients are anxious to find out what they can do to move the cycle along. Â Unfortunately, when a match is made, often it is the donor who has the most to do. Â All donors will meet with your doctor, have bloodwork done, and new donors will have their psychological and genetic counselor interviews.
For intended parents–there is mostly just waiting. Â One thing that intended parents can do right away is contact their attorney and let them know that they are in cycle with a new egg donor, or research and retain an attorney if they don’t have one. Â Choosing an attorney to draft your agreement is very important. Â You want to work with someone who specializes in reproductive law. Â Your attorney will be drafting the contract between you and your donor and for your protection you want that to be iron clad. Â It is well worth your money to work with an attorney who does all of their work in reproductive law.
Speaking of cost–how much will it cost? Â The average price for a contract is between $750.00 and $1000.00. Â Some attorneys will offer re-drafting options as well. Â Once retained, your attorney will write the contact and review it with you. Â this can all be done as they cycle is beginning. Â After your donor’s first visit to the doctor the contract (with your approval) will be sent to your donor’s attorney who will review it with your donor, clarify any questions that she has, and request any changes on her behalf.
Once everyone is happy, the contract is signed and you’re ready to go. Â Ideally all of the timing will work out perfectly and the contract will be done shortly before your donor starts medication. Â BHED (Beverly Hills Egg Donation) has a great list of reproductive lawyers available upon request.
-Ellie Klein, BHED Cycle Coordiator
Tags: Beverly Hills Egg Donation, egg donation california, egg donation los angeles, egg donor, egg donor cost, egg donor los angeles
Posted in Staff Corner | No Comments »
Thursday, January 29th, 2009
Congratulations to the fabulous BHED (Beverly Hills Egg Donation) donor recruitment team for not only reaching, but exceeding their goal for new active donors in the month of January. Our egg donor database features young women from 23 states and Canada, and our team is updating the site on a daily basis. Some recent stand-outs include Nicole #4891 who has traveled the world and speaks four (!) languages, Tina #4841–a PhD student at USC, and volleyball phenom, Andrea #4840. We meet and interview all of our applicants personally to ensure that we continue to maintain a group of egg donors that features the best of the best.
Keep up the good work, ladies!!
Tags: egg donor database, egg donors
Posted in Staff Corner | No Comments »
Tuesday, January 27th, 2009
One of the questions Intended Parents ask often is “Can you recommend a good doctor?”. Â Other variations of that question are “Should I stay with my current doctor?”, “Should I move to a doctor closer to where the egg donor lives?”, and sometimes “I’m not sure if I should move doctors or not – what do you think?”.
Here are the answers to those questions, in my opinion…
1) “Can you recommend a good doctor?” Yes, we can provide recommendations to you.
We have been fortunate enough to work with many of the top Reproductive Endocrinologists (“fertility doctors”) in the country, and from those experiences (and client feedback) we have a good sense of who most of the better doctors are. Â We base our recommendations on a number of factors, including:
- General reputation and feedback from past patients
- Quality and professionalism of the office staff (front office, nursing, etc.)
- General compliance with current “industry standards”, including information such as number of embryos typically implanted, compliance with common testing, administration of medication, etc. Â (Note that since we are not physicians, we cannot comment, and would not deign to comment, on any particular doctor’s medical protocol. Â However, when we see a lower success rate and highly unusual protocol used, we get concerned…)
- General office “vibe” (for example, many clinics with in-house programs are very negative towards working with egg donor agencies.)
- Specific success rates (sometimes per SART, sometimes per our own information or in-house statistics.)
Note that we do not limit our work to any particular group or clinic, but as we gather first-hand information, we will use it to help our clients make the best choice for them.
2) “Should I stay with my current doctor?” “Should I move to a doctor closer to where the donor lives?” Â That all depends…
I believe that the most important criteria in choosing or keeping your physician include:
- Your comfort level with and trust in your doctor. Â If you love your doctor and totally trust him or her, as long as they are supportive of using an egg donor from an agency, definitely keep that doctor. Â I think that if you are calm during the process, and are willing to do what your doctor says because you trust in that doctor, you are more likely to have a successful cycle. Â This is only said from anecdotal evidence and other’s opinions, but being in a good place psychologically as you’re on buckets of hormones (and going through a somewhat surreal process) can’t help but benefit you. Â Does statistical research confirm that? Â I don’t know – but it sure seems logical.
- If finances are an issue (as they generally are) and you choose an egg donor from another city, you might want to consider moving to a doctor in that city. Â However, if you love your current doctor, the difference in dollars is probably irrelevant – certainly in the long term. Â If you do choose to use or keep a doctor in a city far from where the donor lives, make sure that you’re aware of the outside monitoring costs as early in the process as possible. Â (The finance person at the doctor’s office, along with our cycle coordinator, can help you with that.) Â The less surprises that happen in this process, the better.
All of BHED’s clients are assigned a Cycle Coordinator – a senior member of our staff who follows your case through from the time you choose your doctor until retrieval (and often, beyond.) Â The Cycle Coordinator will be in regular contact with your doctor’s office from the time you sign your contract with us, and she will alert you if we have any unexpected challenges with the doctor’s office. Â Most of the time things work out just fine.
Note that we stay with you until you become pregnant or you decide to discontinue trying. Â Your choice of doctor is certainly an important part of this process, and is one of the keys to the success of your pursuit to begin or build your family.
We look forward to helping you realize your dream through egg donation!
-Lisa Greer, BHED Managing Partner
Tags: Beverly Hills Egg Donation, fertility doctor, fertility doctors, Lisa Greer, Reproductive Endocrinologists
Posted in Staff Corner | No Comments »
Tuesday, January 20th, 2009
It takes a village.
There are a lot of people involved in making a successful egg donation cycle happen. There are doctors, nurses, schedulers, attorneys, paralegals, lab techs – not to mention donors and recipients. Perfect cycles are easy – donors go to their appointments, test results are ideal, contracts are signed quickly, no one has a vacation or a sick day and we’re in and out before we know it. That doesn’t happen very often. It is far more likely that an unexpected bump in the road will present itself and it will require everyone to rise to the occasion.  On those days the true professionals literally shine.
I am lucky to work with a number of doctor’s offices and attorneys who understand what it takes to get the job done. They are patient, fast acting, flexible and magically easy to reach. Nurse coordinators, especially, are the heart of the egg donation cycle machine. Their willingness to be a team player, to be communicative, to stay calm in the face of any surprise is invaluable. Nurses are often the unsung heroes in the shadow of the incredible work of the doctors and embryologists but their role will impact the cycle profoundly. Unfortunately there aren’t SART statistics about the positive outlook of the nurse coordinator at a particular office or “number of phone calls returned per week” but there should be. If you’re in the process of choosing a fertility clinic for your cycle – spend some time with the IVF nurses before you make your decision. Ask them what would happen if the donor needed to adjust the calendar by one day for a family event and how often that happens. Their answer will tell you a lot about how they would approach an unexpected issue – big or small.
-Ellie Klein, BHED Cycle Coordinator
Tags: egg donation, egg donation agency, egg donor agency
Posted in Staff Corner | No Comments »
Thursday, January 8th, 2009
Hello, and welcome to Beverly Hills Egg Donation!
BHED is a nationwide egg donor program that helps to guide prospective parents and qualified donors through the egg donation process with care, professionalism, and respect. Â We strive to maintain a donor database of exceptional young women, and our experience in the industry drives us to provide the best possible experience for our clients.
This blog will be a place for you to connect with us on a more personal level.  We’ll answer your questions, as well as post pictures, success stories, and news from the fertility community.
We look forward to getting your feedback and hope this blog will serve as another great resource in your journey to have a child.
Tags: egg donor, egg donor agency, egg donor database
Posted in Staff Corner | No Comments »
|
|
|
|
