Egg Donation Patients

We have many out-of-state and international patients who travel to Bellingham for medical services at our fertility clinic. This page gives you information about combining your egg donation cycle at Bellingham IVF with a pleasant visit in Bellingham, Washington.

Some of our Canadian recipients of donor eggs who live a great distance from Bellingham have the monitoring of their uterine lining (usually only 1 ultrasound test needed) done in their home area. Then the couple comes to Bellingham a day or 2 prior to the donor's egg retrieval. The couple usually then stays in Bellingham until the embryo transfer. The total length of stay in Bellingham is 4-7 days.

Most of our Canadian patients are able to get here on the day of their appointments without any problem besides the usual delays at the border crossing. If you give yourself enough time to get across the border then you should be able to easily make a scheduled appointment since we are only 30 minutes from the border crossing at Blaine Peace Arch.

Here are some choices, if you reside a great distance from the Bellingham area:

Plan 1

You can do an "initial consult" first so that we can go over your case in detail and discuss all relevant issues. You can then have the monitoring of your uterine lining performed in your home area. Usually, only one ultrasound is required to document a proper uterine lining. The husband needs to come here the day prior to the donor's egg retrieval, and the wife needs to come here by the day prior to the embryo transfer. This is the most common scenario utilized by couples living far away.

Plan 2

You can come for a "new patient visit" and come back for "Plan 1" above when we do the egg donation cycle. This way, we meet in person and can do an ultrasound on you and perform a "mock embryo transfer" (a trial, or "uterine sound").

Plan 3

You can make one extended trip to our area and have the monitoring of your uterine lining as well as the embryo transfer performed in our center and then return home. This option requires a 2-3 week stay here. The exact duration of the stay depends on the duration of the ovarian stimulation of the egg donor. In this scenario, we have you do a long distance consult prior to coming in person to make sure the relevant issues are covered.

Your Treatment in Greater Detail

In most cases, the male partner needs to be here the day of the donor's egg retrieval procedure. We need his sperm on the day of the egg retrieval in order to inseminate the donor eggs. The female recipient needs to arrive here on the day of the scheduled embryo transfer procedure.

We prefer (but do not insist) that you have 1- 2 days of "modified bed rest" after the embryo transfer. Therefore, we prefer that you stay in this area for 1-2 days after the transfer. However, many (successful) couples have traveled home either the evening of the transfer, or the next day.

For more details, contact our office and talk with Lynda or Sara.

If you require a place to stay while in Bellingham or need suggestions of things to do while you are here, Sara, Lynda or Karen can help you.