Working with BHED over the past year has been a wonderful, eye-opening experience.  I traveled to Houston, Texas for my first donation.  The staff at BHED made my travel arrangements and explained everything very thoroughly so that there was no confusion (although, had there been any confusion, I knew I could call or text Ellie day or night and she’d be on it!).

One of my flights back got cancelled due to bad weather.  I was freaking out about it because I needed to get back to my baby and I had to work the next day!  So what does Ellie do?  She arranges another flight for me and a shuttle to get me to my original departure city.  It was amazing!

When I first walked in to Houston IVF, the walls were covered with collages of all the beautiful miracle babies that had been born because of donors like me.  I nearly burst into tears as I looked them over.  How special these children are, and how badly the parents wanted them…it was an amazing thing.  It was at that moment that I realized just how important what I was about to give was to the recipient family.  I was ecstatic when I found out later that the donation was a success.  I was worried that it wouldn’t work out and that the family would be heartbroken.  Thankfully, that wasn’t the case.

I recovered somewhat slowly from the retrieval.  I experienced some pretty nasty cramping and mild hyper-stimulation.  It lasted for about two weeks, gradually getting better each day.  Not too long after that donation, another family requested me.  They were more than happy to give me as much time as I needed to recuperate.  I decided that I would donate for them after about 6 months of downtime.  Again, BHED took care of every detail and made sure I was happy throughout the entire process.

This particular doctor happened to be different than most in that he wanted to see me for every appointment.  During the Houston donation, I did most of the appointments near home and only traveled twice over the course of the process.  In this case, I had to travel to Los Angeles quite often.  This became very difficult for me and, after I let Ellie know that there was an issue, BHED called the doctor immediately.  After that, it was smooth sailing!  I went for my retrieval, had an amazing time in Hollywood and felt wonderful after the procedure.  No cramping this time!

If it weren’t for the fact that seeing all of these babies being born made me want to have another one myself, I’d still be on the donor list.  I can say with all honesty that BHED is the most caring, cooperative and friendly organization to work with.  I really can’t say enough positive things about them!  I truly appreciate the experience and memories they gave me.  Thank you, BHED!

- BHED donor, Micah

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