Causes & Treatment
How we Finally had a Successful Pregnancy using Donor Eggs with the Assured Refund Plan Option
Eloise Edington | 11 May 2022
At Fertility Help Hub, we know fertility treatment can be expensive and heartbreaking when IVF doesn’t work. So today, we take a closer look at the Assured Refund Plan™ by Donor Egg Bank USA (visit their profile here and their website here). Donor Egg Bank USA clearly understands the deep desire to have a baby – their Founder went through these struggles too – and the financial challenges that accompany this journey.
As the frozen donor egg bank of choice for patients and fertility specialists in North America, Donor Egg Bank USA has over 250 rigorously-screened donors and a refund plan that guarantees you bring home a baby or you get your money back. The Assured Refund Plan™ offers up to six egg lots and unlimited frozen embryo transfers for one price*.
Read more about Michelle’s story and how she gratefully brought home babies with the Assured Refund Plan option from Donor Egg Bank USA.
Written by Holly Pigache
“A One Shot Deal”
In 2013, Michelle and her partner discovered they had fertility difficulties. Initially, they tried “less invasive” fertility treatment in their efforts to conceive but when these failed to result in a pregnancy, the couple opted for IVF. “We figured it was a one-shot deal; I was 36 at the time, I did not respond to fertility treatment as [the fertility specialists] had thought. We got pregnant, miscarried, and so we really felt we had no other option,” says Michelle.
“Once we worked through the grief process, we just couldn’t accept that was the end of our story, so we financed a trip with credit cards and all of our savings to go to Spain, and we tried IVF abroad.”
Battling additional health problems, once again, Michelle didn’t respond well to the fertility treatment. After two trips to Spain and another miscarriage, Michelle felt they were back where they started.
Michelle’s two daughters with the help of Donor Egg Bank USA’s Assured Refund Plan™
A Final Chance
Living in Maine, USA, posed a problem for Michelle and her partner as fertility treatment isn’t covered by insurance plans. Whereas two states away in Massachusetts, some insurance companies cover assisted reproduction treatment. And so, Michelle and her partner traveled to Boston for a fertility consultation. They asked their new doctor to be honest with them about whether to explore options such as adoption to build the family they longed for.
Michelle’s fertility specialist told her about the Donor Egg Bank USA Assured Refund Plan option. But this wasn’t the first time she had heard about it – having connected online with other people going through IVF, she learnt about it through the fertility community, too. “So now I was hearing about it from a [fertility] specialist and also from people who had been through it,” she tells me.
“At first, I didn’t believe you would actually get your money back if you didn’t successfully bring home a baby.” Like many might, Michelle presumed a positive pregnancy test would negate the possibility of a refund before learning that the Assured Refund Plan really does promise a refund if you don’t bring home a baby (not just a BFP).
Donor Egg Bank USA’s Assured Refund Plan “cost us $42,000**, which, when you break it down, is two IVF cycles with egg donation,” Michelle notes. (The exact price will depend on your clinic, this cost was specific to Michelle.) She talks of the stress surrounding IVF: “We thought: if this doesn’t work, we’ve spent all this money and we’ll have no baby… [Yet] we knew, as soon as we had that consult, that this is what we were going to do – we just had no idea how we were going to pay for it.” (If you’re apprehensive about the cost, Donor Egg Bank USA has various financial plans to help.)
What is Donor Egg Bank USA’s Assured Refund Plan™?
- Guarantees a live birth or provides a 100% refund if you do not bring home a baby within your six cycles.
- Offers up to six cycles of frozen donor egg IVF and unlimited frozen embryo transfer cycles (each cycle is subject to a review and there’s no obligation to complete all six cycles).
- If you choose to end your treatment at any time, you’re guaranteed a 50% refund.
With the Assured Refund Plan, 92% of participants will have a baby to love***.
Eligibility
- To be accepted as a candidate for Donor Egg Bank USA’s Assured Refund Plan option, you must have a satisfactory medical review.
- Approximately 96% of patients will qualify; “I thought it was quite difficult to not get approved,” says Michelle.
The Process
- Donor Egg Bank USA uses frozen donor eggs, which means they’re ready when you are. There’s no waiting on a fresh donor to sync with your cycle. “Once we made the payment, the process moved along so quickly,” Michelle tells me.
- Donor Egg Bank USA will work with your clinic to obtain your medical information.
- Donor Egg Bank USA partners with well-renowned fertility clinics throughout the United States, the U.S. territories, Canada and the Americas.
If your fertility clinic currently isn’t partnered with Donor Egg Bank USA, you can contact a client services specialist to talk about using Donor Egg Bank USA’s donor eggs and the Assured Refund Plan option with your clinic.
In terms of cost, how does the Donor Egg Bank USA’s Assured Refund Plan™ compare with individual IVF cycles?
If a successful pregnancy occurs on the first cycle, the Donor Egg Bank USA Assured Refund Plan works out as approximately double the cost of a Single Cycle Plan. With a pregnancy on the second cycle, the costs are nearly equal. On the third, fourth, fifth and sixth cycles, the Assured Refund Plan is less expensive than the cost of paying for each cycle separately.
“Be Open to Whatever the Journey Is”
“We did a lot of soul searching,” Michelle says of her decision to use donor eggs. “At the end of the day, I just wanted a baby, I didn’t mind how we got there.” Michelle gave birth to twins, who are now almost 2 years old. “We had one embryo implanted and it split, so we got identical twins.”
When I ask if Michelle has any advice to others considering using frozen donor eggs for IVF, she says: “Be open to whatever the journey is [even if] it may not look like how you thought it was going to.”
FHH would like to thank Michelle for sharing her story. Whatever your personal reasons are for using donor eggs, Donor Egg Bank USA’s online donor catalog has an egg donor for you – click here to browse.
If you’re wondering whether the Assured Refund Plan is right for you, call (855) 344-2265 to speak with a client services specialist who will answer your questions and support you in choosing an egg donor.
*Restrictions apply. Please review the Assured Refund Plan agreement for restrictions and other terms and conditions of the plan. **Costs may vary depending on your fertility clinic. ***Data on file at CCB-DEB LLC.
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