Welcome To Our Garden

Sunday, November 9, 2008

Hypothetically speaking....

IF one were to consider switching from Fairfax Cryo to California Cyro would anyone have any info?

Good or bad?

Hypothetically of course. ;o)

33 comments:

Liz said...

of course i don't have any info about that but i'm sure your other blogger friends may!

your post made me smile...xo

La said...

We used Calif Cryo in the very beginning of our journey. We then switched to Xytex b/c we like the fact of viewing child photos as well as adult photos. Our RE told us he uses Xytex the most b/c of the sperm quanity and quality....

SJayneI said...

We used MidWest and loved them, but was not successful until we used fresh. Is that a possibility for you guys at all?

Chris said...

We used Pacific Reproductive Services. We liked their Donor ID program (when the child turns 18, they can choose to contact the donor) and their prices were reasonable. They've gone up a lot since though.

Hypothetically, I wish you lots of luck :o)

Anonymous said...

no...but if you asked about the Sperm Bank of California, then I'd have lots of wonderful things to say. They were our second bank. We really like that they are the only non-profit sperm bank, and that they are the ones that created the identity release program - many years ago. They also offer a donor sibling match service at no cost (well, I guess we paid enough for the sperm...). So if there are other families and you are interesting in knowing them, they will provide all the contacts (only if the other families have signed off saying they want to be known, of course).

Michelle said...

Sorry - I posted before spell checking by accident so this is my redo...

Hypothetically has never sounded so promising...YAY!! We are 99% sure we are gonna use CCB. It is the one that our RE's office uses the most and we found a good selection of donors that met are criteria. We have a pretty good idea which are our finalists.

When I read your post I felt like there was a little more hope in the world.

xoxo

Michelle (and of course Dawn)

Heidi said...

Hypothetically I have no advice.

I do love me some hypothetical though!!!

sarah said...

ly speaking... we used xytex..and loved them. They were prompt and a favorite of our RE. Plus, when I called last week to report LJ they sent a free packet with pictures and everything as a gift for her...

Anonymous said...

We used California Cryobank and loved it. We have 2 sons from them (same donor).
I wanted to tell you to not give up so quickly. If this desire is in your heart it will not go away. We had to do numerous inseminations and 8 ivf's to have our 2 boys (5 year old and a 8 month old).
Good luck,
Rosany

Anonymous said...

We used them and got pregnant on the first try (with Clomid) and our twins (identical, not cuz of the clomid) are 14 months old! They were more expensive, but had lots of options like baby pictures, etc. Also, when we did our second parent adoption they were very helpful in getting us the right paperwork to prove to the courts that the donor had released all of his rights.

May you find peace, hypothetical or otherwise...

Alissa

K J and the kids said...

I just like the sound of your hypothetical post :)
Keep up the good spirits.

Mikki said...

We used California and had very, very sucessful thaws for all of our sperm (we ended up thawing 6 vials total). I absolutely loved them. I am willing to share any information you may need!

Anonymous said...

I am smiling as well! I've heard really good things about Cali Cryo...but don't know much about them. Hoping you girls don't give up.....

E and M, jumpingoutoftrees said...

We used them and had zero problems. We chose an open donor so at 18 EG can contact the donor. We did everything over fax and phone. Our donor had great sperm and had previous pregnancies reported. I think the sperm is the most important and if you look for some who has reported pregnancies your chances go up. Once that baby is born -- you don't care who the donor was anymore. They become yours and only yours.

E and M, jumpingoutoftrees said...

And, I agree with previous poster. The desire will never leave you until it leaves you -- and you never know when that is going to be. Sounds like it hasn't left....

Dee said...

We used Xytex and LOVED THEM!!! Check out Xytex. We've been nothing but pleased.

Carrie said...

we are also switching to CCB from Fairfax. The vials we got from Fairfax were so low in count, and the staff very unfriendly and unhelpful with refunds. CCB has already been nicer to work with - they take pains to share as much info as they can, and have always followed up on our requests.

musicalprose said...

So I don't know anything about them but hypothetically I think you should try again. You know hypothetically ;)

Anonymous said...

we loved fairfax cryobank.. but it is amazing how much their prices went up in 1 year.. But we also live close to fairfax so we didn't have to deal with couriers etc..
they have a good deal going on now with free storage for 3 years.

good luck.

Sparroweye said...

Hey, I want to be related to you guys anyway I can. I'll donate my husbands stuff. He made three boys. All blonde haired blue eyes. Great mix with you guys. I bet he's still got it. Been only with one gal his whole life. I'm glad you're still thinking about it.

tammy said...

hypothetically speaking.... :O)

Anonymous said...

another here for ccb - great counts, great motility, pregnant on try #2 and our son is perfect.

they also really went out of their way to get us some vials of our donor from another client who reactivated him. great customer service. :)

Anonymous said...

Just an we love you and miss you comment....

xoxoxoxoxxo
Denise and Peg

This Mom said...

We used Calif Cryo 11 years ago and had no problems at all. Their customer service was excellent then, hopefully it still is.
Good luck...hypothetically!

Lizzie said...

We're using California Cryobank. No complaints, but I'm not pregnant yet ... The one I've heard the best things about is The Sperm Bank of California. I like their philosophy, they work with a lot of lesbians, and are non-profit. We just didn't find as big a selection for what we needed/wanted from them, so we went with CCB. I'm so glad you're considering new options and maybe trying again. Big hug.

CD and SP said...

big selection, ridiculously helpful customer service, expensive but worth the peace of mind that they know what they're doing! we went through 4 different donors in their catalog before conceiving, but i don't think that had much to do with them.

Pufferfish said...

We are also with CCB and have been pleased with the customer service, counts, motility, and selection.
We got pregnant on our 6th IUI, but M/C. Now we are trying a second donor--just b/c we needed a change and are even happier with him than the first one.
Good Luck whatever decision you make.

MB said...

i think change is good, regardless how you do it. we started with california and ended with fairfax. i think it just happens when it's supposed to.

Penny said...

a week its been a whole WEEK...

miss you guys !

hotomiky said...

good idea - give it try!! you may never know... at least you try!

:-D miss you all!

MommynMama said...

Just thought I would chime in. We used CCB and conceived both our daughters from there. (Both from the same donor) They are pricey, but I never had a second thought when we chose them. Great shipments, baby photos, long profiles, and sibling registry. We have connected with quite a few siblings. Hopefully someday we will all meet.

westlin said...

I'm new to your blog and still trying to read and catch up. My partner and I are looking to TTC soon and were thinking of using Fairfax Cryo. Can I ask, hypothrtically, why the switch?

Anonymous said...

Fairfax Cryobank has so many complaints on virtually every fertility and sperm bank info website I have visited. Do not use them as you will be wasting your time and money

These complaints range from
Vials being sent out that are far below their published quality standards, this mean the possibility of the treatment resulting in pregnancy is virtually zero.

They do not give refunds for samples that do not meet their quality standards, they do not live up to their warranty.

Unethical warranty in that you have to report within 5 days, there is no need for this except to minimize their risk of giving a refund, and they also say if you get pregnant there will be no refund. The test for pregnancy is about 2 weeks after the treatment... so why the 5 days?

After having a complaint about low post thaw motility about a donor they continue to sell other vials from that donor.

After having complaints about genetic illnesses in offspring on a donor they still continued to sell from that donor, See info on donor 1084 and this is not the only one. Consult the donor sibling registry for the others.

They do not tell you about the warranty; they send it to the doctor and rely on the doctor, a third party to communicate their policies.

They are dismissive and rude when you have a problem with them particularly Stephen Pool who makes the decisions.

If they cannot test correctly for simple motility count how can they be trusted to test properly for communicable diseases??

Fairfax Cryobank is responding to complaints not by doing the right thing and improving, they instead direct you to the website to read testimonials, these testimonials should be called false marketing lies. Of course they are not going to tell the truth about all the complaints they have. Of course they are going to post how good they are. Do not listen, do your research and see what Fairfax Cryobank really is.

To anyone who has suffered because of Fairfax Cryobank, my heart goes out to you. Image how it feels to go through drug treatments, spending all that time, money and emotion only to be told the donor sperm is useless and will never work. I do not have to image this, they did it to me.

To anyone who has suffered there is something you can do. There is a form to fill out on the FDA website:

http://www.fda.gov/Safety/MedWatch/HowToReport/DownloadForms/default.htm


It is the MedWatch form 3500 which is used to make complaints to the FDA on biological product quality. The form is easy to fill out and is completely confidential. The FDA has authority over Fairfax Cryobank and can make Fairfax Cryobank improve their quality and their policies but the FDA needs to be made aware of the problem.

All the best wishes to those of you trying. I hope none of you have to go through what I did due to Fairfax Cryobank, If this review saves one person from that misery then I am glad I posted it.