If you need donor eggs, there’s lots to focus on – deciding on fresh or frozen donor eggs, funding options, choosing your egg donor. So it’s easy to forget that your health is just as important to your treatment outcome.
Your body needs to be ready to support a pregnancy. At Manchester Fertility, nutrition guidance plays a big role in the journeys of many of the women we help to conceive using donor eggs.
It’s especially important for older women and women who need donor eggs because of previous medical treatment. You may already have additional nutritional needs because of your age or medical history.
Preparing for fertility treatment with donor eggs: Is there a difference?
We advise all women using donor eggs to prepare as anyone normally would for conception and pregnancy: Follow a healthy, balanced diet with all the essential vitamins and minerals you need such as iron, calcium, vitamin D, vitamin C, zinc and omega-3.
You also need to take folic acid, vital for your baby’s development and a healthy pregnancy. Special preconception vitamins are a good option if you’re worried about getting enough nutrition.
We’ll take care of all the hormonal support you need to build up your uterus lining ready for your embryo, and after transfer too to support pregnancy – all the things your body would normally do itself in natural conception.
If you’re taking any existing medications, or have a medical condition, we’ll make sure these won’t interfere with your treatment and you receive the care you need taking into account your existing health issues.
What about partners?
If you’re using your partner’s sperm in treatment, his lifestyle and diet are just as important as yours when preparing for treatment.
Factors such as obesity and smoking can affect his sperm. So if his BMI is high or he has a few bad lifestyle habits, he’ll also be advised to make changes to help improve his fertility.
Nutritional support: What you can do
The focus for you and your partner is self-care and ensuring that you’re both in the absolute best health before treatment with donor eggs starts. Your initial health review and blood tests will tell us if there’s anything we need to address first.
If you need additional nutritional support, our fertility nutritionist Jeannette Jackson is here to help. She offers private consultations to all patients who have dietary and nutritional concerns at any stage of treatment.
Acupuncture is also available to all Manchester Fertility patients. Some women who have donor eggs treatment find tailored IVF and fertility acupuncture a valuable addition to treatment.
Manchester Fertility: Focusing on body and mind
It’s not just physical preparation that we focus on but mental preparation too. Counselling is an essential part of treatment with donor eggs for you and your partner, to help you with the emotional aspects of having a family this way.
Start treatment with donor eggs: No waiting list
If you’d like to see our consultants for treatment with donor eggs, we don’t have a waiting list and have fresh and frozen UK donor eggs immediately available. Have a chat to our Donation Team on 0161 300 2737 to get started or self-refer online.
You can also learn more about our egg donors and your funding options with us including our new Frozen Donor Eggs Multi-Cycle package and Access Fertility’s Donor Eggs IVF Refund plan.
Last updated: 16th March 2018
