My husband and I had an in-depth consult yesterday at SG (Dr. Mottla in their Annapolis office). We are now choosing between SG and our local RE. Among the many things we are considering is the choice at SG between 2:1 and 3:1 donor share. The higher cost of the 2:1 option is a great concern to me (I'd like to keep a little of our life savings!), but I'm also wondering whether the 3:1 option takes a lot longer because of the more complicated coordination (especially after reading Seymo's post below. Big hug, Seymo!) and I'm so ready to get a move on that the thought of further delays feels unbearable to me now.

Any insights of experience between the two options?? Is there much of a difference time- and convenience-wise?

Thanks!

I'm an OOT patient. Had a phone consult a couple weeks ago and going for initial appt 11/29. When first looking Into it the two vs. three way split we considered the cost for sure. I had asked about the time to cycle for the three vs. two way split and was told it it about a 3 to 5 month process depending on how much add'l pretesting recipients needed. They also told me that if you are in a three way split and two recipients pick a donor and a month goes by without a third recipient on board they will cycle with two recipients. I think there are lots of things about this that we can't control and it leds to delays which are so infuriating. Seymo post does have me a little concerned but we are going to stick with the three to one b/c we need the add'l funds for travel and OOT monitoring and looking at outcomes there is not much difference. If you have a failed or cancelled cycle it would likely move you into the primary recipient spot on the next try. Good luck with your decision.

But I think I got a lot of good info we can all benefit from by posting my problem at SG here.

I really did have a good experience w/SG up until this bump. After I forcefully communicated my concerns I got another call and and email back from them this morning. I think the nurse knows she screwed up. Lets hope she stays on top of things from now on. We all have to be our own advocate because no one else will!

So I went with the 2/1 shared risk option. My home RE said I shouldn't even waste money on the guarantee because I will "definitely get pregnant on the first try". She also said that back when I did my first OE IVF with her many years ago, so what does she know? I did opt to pay for the donor meds as we go, which saves on the front end, just in case my doc is right.

I picked 2/1 because the 3/1 can take additional months to get everyone on board and you have less chance of having frozens. They screen the AFs of potential donors to know who would be best for 1/1,2/1 and 3/1. Which means the low AFs are in the 1/1 and the highs are in the 1/3. But my overall impression is that beyond a certain number of AFs they just don't know what the retrieval outcome is so the risk for 3/1 is a bit higher.

SG also told me that if I didn't see anyone in the 2/1 group I could look at other groups but that is because I told them I was willing to pay more (or less) to get the donor I wanted. So there is the possibility of being in the 3:1 program but, if after a couple of months no suitable donors come into the group, than you can convert to the other program. The donor coordinators can help you through those scenarios.

I went with the 3 for 1 and don't think it took any extra time vs the 2:1. What did take time was that I had a donor go AWOL but that could happen regardless. My stint at sg went like this. Consult in late June then I did all the testing in July and August. I took my time 'cause we had decided to take summer off from ttc. We needed a break. Got my testing done and dh got his done later than I wanted but that was his fault not SG's. Anyway, we were cleared to participate in mid september, chose our donor in 1 day. I was the 3rd recip. We were to have started meds just a mont or so later and tx was expected around Thanksgiving. But we did not even start meds because the donor did not respond to the nurse's phone calls. So we had to pick a new donor and by that time it was too late to get the cycle in before the holidays because the lab closes for a week. We chose a new donor in just a day or so and she was snapped up pretty quickly. We we all on board in 1.5 days. While we could not tx before the holidays we could start meds. We all got aligned and tx was Jan 15. That was less than 3 months after we chose the donor and even included the holiday delay. The cycle start was 2 months after we chose the donor and there were 3 recips. There should not be anymore testing of recips after donor selection because the only way you can choose the donor is if your testing is done. I was primary on my cycle and got 7 eggs, 6 fertilized and 2 were tx on day 3. My fresh was a bfn but I had 2 frozen 6 day blasts. I had an FET exactly 2 months after my fresh tx and that was a bfp. My DD turns 1 in 2 weeks. For me, I don't think being part of a 3:1 split delayed me vs. 2:1. GL

I am a 1:3 success. I was in 3rd spot. It took a week for all 3 of us to choose the donor and then 8 weeks from there for transfer. When we looked at the 1:2 vs the 1:3, we really didn't see any differences except costs. There is a message board that has a ton of ladies going through DE at SG. Check out this forum -http://forums.fertilitycommunity.com/donor-issues-egg-sperm/

I did have some challenges on the 1st cycle getting my schedule, and never really got good information on when I would get it. But when it came we went full steam ahead quite quickly.

Let's see...here's what I remember:
Chose donor in February (24 year old proven). Number 3 in the split. I ovulated through the bcps and lupron, but continued on lupron longer and increased my dosages of delestrogen, so my lining still got nice and fluffy. Got 5 eggs at retrieval. 4 fertilized. 2 split and developed. Transferred 2 not-so-great looking embies on day 3 in March. Received BFN in cycle. No frosties.

Got back on donor site the day we got the BFN. Took about 1-and-a-half weeks to choose a donor (I think). I liked one, but she was 31 year old and not proven in a cycle, but had 2 children of her own (one was just 2 years old...a bit younger than our ds). I worried about the age and the non-proven status, and went to the pink board and got some of the best advice (everyone is unproven at some time or other, and there were several ladies who had used "older"- and I say that tongue in cheek-- 31 year old -- what a youngster, and they had success).

I even had hear from my doctor that in general, younger and proven was better. Still I trusted the ladies on the board, and went with my gut. I was 1st to choose the donor, and the match was complete in a day (I think others, like me, were holding out to see if any else thought that she was a good bet, then comes the fear that you might lose the only donor in which you were interested). I ended up being #1 in that split. We started cycling in June. At retrieval, we again received 5 eggs in the split (the number 3 person was cancelled because the donor did not produce many eggs, but the quality was GREAT). On day 5, July 9 we transferred 1 beautiful blast and 1 other perfect one was frozen on day 6. We are now 20 weeks pregnant with a singleton.

I really feel that the clinic tries to get a patient pregnant as quickly as possible because it is in their best financial interest. So being in the 3:1 program, actually may bode better in some respect, because we didn't pay as much, so the clinic begins to lose money faster if we don't get pregnant. With the 2:1 program, there is a little more time to work with. Not to say that SG doesn't want to get women pregnant no matter in which program they are. I just know that I cycled 1 time in the 3rd spot (and was pretty bummed about that), but the next cycle...in just a few months, I jumped to spot #1.

I would not say don't go with the 2:1 program. You have to do what you think is right. But no matter which program you choose, you still get those 6 fresh and unlimited frozen (although I don't think having a lot of frozens is the clinic's goal) or your money back.

I hope you are one of the ones who gets pregnant the 1st time out. I felt like if that happened to us (which it didn't) then I would not feel any kind of remorse for the money invested...ultimately having a baby will be priceless.

All the best!

Thanks for your helpful comments, everyone, and congratulations to those of you who have had success! you are an inspiration to me!