Can anyone point me in the right direction?

[Briony]

Hi there,

We're moving to Victoria at the beginning of next year, and are hoping to start a family when we've done so, but I'm finding it difficult to know how to go about it. Both of us come from quite straight communities (we currently live in Western Sydney) so there isn't really anyone to ask advice from at the moment. Could anyone please tell me... what are my options? Where do I look? I've been going through a lot of the threads on this site (and others) and a lot of people talk about pregnancies with "known donors", but both of us don't want to know the donor because of fears of later consequences such as the biological father wanting to get involved later down the track. The only institution we know of is IVF, and thats predominantly for fertility difficulties isn't it?

I'm sorry, I know this is probably really basic stuff for all of you, but we've been lost over all of this for months and months now.:rain: Please help!

Briony and Dannii

[chicaenlosarboles]

Hey Briony,

There are a lot of people here who doing ivf (or have been through the process). We are just starting at the moment and really the main thing for a lesbian couple doing ivf (as opposed to a straight couple with fertility problems) is that there is no medicare rebate or safety net which makes it horrendously expensive (around $10 000 or so).

I think that's why a lot of people go with someone they know or hook up with someone who is willing to donate sperm (there are websites that help you find sperm donors - have a look at some of the other threads).

Good luck!

[baby0105]

Hi Briony,
My parnter and I have been doing and are currently doing IVF trying to add a second baby to our rainbow family. We are using an "unknown donor" that we picked from a sperm bank attached to our clinic. I don't know about the IVF rebate in Vic but We are in NSW and our clinic is in Gold Coast and we have been able to claim thru medicare for all our expenses.
My clinic did IUI (interuterine insemination) first then when that failed x3 then moved to IVF due to low sperm amounts available.
I have no diagnosed fertility issues, the clinic state that I am "socially infertile", very hard when 2 full IVF cycles and 15 frozen embryos cycles have failed, but I can't change how they think!!!!

Good luck and believe me when I say, all the highs and lows of chasing the Baby dream are worth it when you hold that precious little person in your hands. Also now we (lesbians) can put our partners name on the childs birth certificate (if concieved thru artifical means). We were very excited about that:yelclap:.

Talk soon.

[Briony]

thank you so much - it's hard to explain how much hope that gives me, to know that it's not going to be an impossible journey