Please Introduce Yourself!

[Nurse27]

hi Dani & Ivy,

Welcome to BB - Best of luck with your 1st TTC!

Which of you is going to be the birth mum?

Congrats on the legalised marriage! In Australia it is still very much a no-no - but we have had a commitment ceremony which is the next best thing

[DanilovesIvy]

Thanks

I'm (Dani) going to be the birth mother. Ivy said the only time she would give birth herself is if I could not successfully carry a baby. So I guess lesbianism has its perks.

[cairnsgirlz]

Hi Everybody,

I am Lisa and my partner is Vickie. We live in Cairns, which is fairly well known for having a large gay and lesbian community. However, we are finding it really hard to get any information or help on how and where to start the whole sperm donor process. Does anybody have any ideas? All help would be greatly appreciated!!!

[BonanzaJellybean]

Originally Posted by cairnsgirlz

where to start the whole sperm donor process. Does anybody have any ideas? All help would be greatly appreciated!!!

Hi there, Welcome aboard BB. Check out 'free sperm donations'

You join/subscribe and log into to the members area. Just create an alias hotmail or yahoo with your user name eg : Blinkybill@........com, then you can look at profiles on sperm donors all over Australia (& the World.). Just be vigilant as per normal internet safety protocol.

You need to be sure your donor is STD free, and free of genetic conditions such as Cystic Fibrosis. Some donate privatly on this ssite as they are already maxed out at the clinics (reached donation limit) so the benefit there is they have already been cleared
of nasties.

The Feminist Book shop will help you out with some excellent books.

Good Luck

BJ

[Shades]

Be aware though that just because they have previously been cleared by a clinic doesn't mean they are now and forever clear of STDs!
In my opinion (and experience) it is much safer medically and legally to go through clinic channels, unless you are very sure you can trust a stranger to get checked out to your satisfaction. It is more expensive to go through a clinic but I found the peace of mind to be worth the extra cost and more.
My clinic Queensland Fertility Group have a branch in Cairns, look them up in the Yellow Pages for more info. They can obtain donor sperm for you as well as handle the insemination procedures.

[miskilla]

Hi everyone.. My name is Rachel and my parner is Tasman, we are from Adelaide and are coming up to our 3rd at home insemination attempt. I really thought it would be easy! I already have a 9year old who was a breeze to conveive. The doctor recently told me I have very low levels of progesterone which is'nt too good. But now he seems to think he took the blood on the wrong day (before I ovulated) so thats why it was low. hmmm!
We have a donor who we have known ages, he is great but lives in Darwin! Alot of travelling indeed. We have another friend who has recently come out of the Navy and is aware of all we have been going through, and has offered to donate to us! Which will mean swimmers on tap basically as he is here in Adelaide. So hopefully we will be able to try in the next month or two now! I am getting a little nervous as most couples I know of have fallen pregnant on their first attempt, lucky much! So fingers crossed this time.

Rach & Tas

[Ms_Fi]

Hi I'm Fiona (33) and my partner is Hope (23). I'm already a mum to 3 from my previous marriage and we're looking to have a baby of our own. We're still in England at the moment (relocating in the next 3 months) so it'll be a year before we start our journey on the IVF rollercoaster.

[Jules&Ali]

Hi everyone, I have just joined we are about to embark on our first AI this cycle! Just looking to meet people...particularly anyone who may be in Sydney areas. Look forward to the chats x x

[D&M]

hello and welcome Jules & Ali, we are in NSW but not in sydney. Are you ttc with a known donor or anon? I wish you both all the best on your journey.

[D&M]

hello Rach and Tas, welcome also, you will find some great support here, goodluck with ttc

[monkeygem]

hi all,

thought i should post an intro here as i have been wandering around the boards over the past couple of days reading your stories.

we are currently a week out from our pregnancy test (friday 10th july) from our first round of ivf. we are in our late thirties (okay she is 37 and i am not...) and though time is a factor as i am older, due to my massive fibroids my partner is ttc first.

we have a fabulous gayboy known donor who loves his mum, can dance and is wicked at singstar... he is pretty cute too (what more could you want?)

my partner coped beautifully with the injections and though sore and sorry after the egg retrieval has been taking good care of herself, we are hoping this round works as we currently live in a regional area and our clinic only runs three or four ivf cycles per year so we would have to wait till October for round two.

anyway, the longterm plan is for my fibroids to be removed (surgery scheduled in a fortnight but 6 week recovery!!!) and for us to attempt to retrieve some of my eggs for a subsequent pregnancy (her or me) ... but lets just get through this one first!

Wishing you all the best for your family plans
Crossing everything
Monkeygem

[monkeygem]

oh...and i forgot. Our names are Elsie and Jules.
J

[D&M]

welcome to the both of you monkeygem I have read a couple of your posts and they made me smile. I wish you and your partner the very best and good luck on ttc this cycle.

[monkeygem]

hi D&M thanks for the welcome...

this 2ww is killing us... and tho we are constantly changing our minds on whether it 'has or hasn't' worked, we are currently on a two day downer, both absolutely convinced that we shall be trying again next round. aggghhhh! we shall know more on friday.

so, your tag says that you are 'soon to be ttc' how 'soon' are you gonna be trying?

all the best,
jules

[hierophant]

Hi all, I'm new to BellyBelly and very new to the whole baby/pregnancy/parenting thing as my DP and I have finally decided to start a family. So far we've only got as far as me going off the pill, strarting to chart my temps and getting referrals etc, but I'm feeling rather overwhelmed by it all! These forums are a lifesaver though - have learned so much in the last couple of week already.

[hierophant]

oops!

[D&M]

Hello Hierophant and welcome to bb. You will find stacks of support here so its a good thing you found us Look forward to reading your journey.

Hello Monkeygem, soon to be ttc will be happening in October with any luck, I see my doctor this week who tells me I have no problems (with any luck lol) DP would probably disagree (joking!) and then we make the phone call. I have been taking temps and trying to find some kind of regular pattern that may exist, suprise suprise I am quite *normal*. We wanted this before we pursued a fertility specialist so we didn't waste their time and our time as we are about 4 hours from the city.
We are hoping IUI will be our road as I dont have any medical conditions. We just hope the first time is the *time* as im sure you are feeling this right about now also. But we are also prepared to make the journey if necessary. I wanted to wish you both the best and goodluck are you both in NSW?

[hierophant]

Hi D&M, thanks for the welcome. We seem to be at a similar stage to you, although I have to see a couple more health professionals before we see the FS as I have Type 1 diabetes, but my GP and diabetes educator are supportive of me TTC. I'm in Melbourne so we are hoping to do everything here, seeing as the laws change soon to give us access to IVF clinics here, but we'll see how we go.