a few questions?

[mauve]

Hi Jess
I'm single now and have cycled with one clinic in QLD (QFG) and one in NSW (IVFA). Neither had any issues with my singledom. I'm pretty sure they're not actually allowed to discriminate in that way. SIVF will treat you if you're single but you will need to find your own sperm donor. IVFA had no anonymous SDs last time I checked and QFG has only a few. Thankfully, I now have a known SD.
Attitudes of doctors can vary though so it pays to find one who supports you.
The other problem you may face is whether Medicare will cover you or not. I am 'lucky' in that I have a medical history of infertility with my XDH. If that's the case, you can have a Medicare funded cycle - it's deemed as needing IVF for 'medical' reasons. If you don't, your clinic will/may class your use of IVF as 'social' infertility and you will be out of pocket for the whole lot.
Prices do vary a lot from clinic to clinic, and most sites list their fees.
Good luck

[Lirael]

how on earth would you find a sperm donor

might be easier to have a one night stand

[mauve]

Well, it's not easy finding a SD that you'd feel comfortable about 'using', for various reasons.
I was lucky - the DH of an ED on another board is my SD. His best mate and wife had gone through years and years of infertility and many miscarriages. I mentioned on that board that there was a SD shortage and within 10 minutes I had received a PM from her. We communicated via email for a couple of months, then arranged counselling and went from there.
Just lucky I guess

[Lirael]

oh wow.

so can you(providing youdont have fertility probs) just get them(the clinic/doctor) to um, 'squrit' it in there??? and hope it does the trick? Or is it very involved?

[jess_live_die]

i wasnt planning for a few year coz i knew i would have to save heaps 1st but i dnt know where id find a sprem donor lol.

[mauve]

just get them(the clinic/doctor) to um, 'squrit' it in there??? and hope it does the trick? Or is it very involved?

It's a bit more complicated - if you go through a clinic. The donor has to be tested for nasties eg AIDS. In NSW it's law that the 'donation' then be quarantined for six months and the donor checked again. I managed to get around that in QLD though. Counselling is also needed before you go ahead.
Mind you, if you found your own donor somehow and had no fertility problems you could just do the old turkey baster routine. Without having the 'nasties' check though it would be a bit too risky I think.

[jess_live_die]

It's a bit more complicated - if you go through a clinic. The donor has to be tested for nasties eg AIDS. In NSW it's law that the 'donation' then be quarantined for six months and the donor checked again. I managed to get around that in QLD though. Counselling is also needed before you go ahead.
Mind you, if you found your own donor somehow and had no fertility problems you could just do the old turkey baster routine. Without having the 'nasties' check though it would be a bit too risky I think.

if you found your own donor somehow and had no fertility problems you could just do the old turkey baster routine what does that mean?

[mauve]

The Old Turkey Baster Routine - It's from an American site:

TURKEY BASTER METHOD
Supplies needed:

Needleless syringe or oral medicine syringe
Collection cup or condom
(Optional) Saline without additives or preservatives
(Optional) Tube to attach to syringe
(Optional) Mild germicidal soap
You can ask your doctor for a needleless syringe or you can buy an oral medicine syringe at just about any drugstore or in Wal*Mart near the children's thermometers. Buy the syringe with a plunger, not a bulb end (not the mini turkey baster!). The syringes work pretty much the same way. One that is maybe 4 inches long, or longer, is probably best. The oral medicine syringes have about a half inch narrow tip on the end. You can attach a catheter (thin tube) to either kind of syringe but you don't need to and it may waste more of the semen to use one.

a) Take a clean or sterile glass or plastic cup, or collection condom and have the male ejaculate into it. You'll probably have better luck getting the semen out of a cup since you could suck the condom up to the syringe and block the opening, but you may get a larger sample with the condom. You can use a tiny bit of saline, without additives/preservatives, to help get as much sperm as possible into the syringe, but you don't need to worry too much about leaving a little behind. If you are using frozen sperm, you need to ask the sperm bank for directions on thawing.

b) Draw back on the syringe once with nothing but air, then push the air out again.

c) Draw back on the syringe again, but this time have the end of it in the semen -- the vacuum created by pulling back on the stopper will suck the semen into the syringe.

d) Try to tap out any air bubbles since you don't want to inject air into your vagina. You can do this by slowly rotating the syringe until the opening is facing up. Tap the air bubbles to the top and them push the plunger in on the catheter just a small amount -- enough to get rid of air w/o squirting semen out.

e) Get into a position where you can either stay comfortably for a half hour or can get into the position w/ minimal movement. Ideal is to either have hips raised or to lay on your side making sure your pelvis is canted (usually hips provide natural angle if you hips are wider than your waist, but if your bed, or wherever you are lying, is soft, you may want to put a pillow or two underneath your hip).

f) Slowly glide the syringe, or catheter, into the vagina until it is close to the cervix -- but do not try to get it into the cervix and do this gently. Your goal is to coat the outside of the cervix and to deposit as much sperm as possible as close the cervix as you can get it.

g) SLOWLY inject sperm. If you do it too fast, it can squirt out of the vagina or at least spray away from the cervix.

h) If you are concerned about wastage in the syringe, you can use some saline, without additives . . . add some to the syringe, shake it a bit, get the air out, and inject. This is not necessary since there probably won't be enough wastage to be of concern.

i) Try to have an orgasm -- Some suggest that using a vibrator for clitoral stimulation produces a bigger, more powerful orgasm. Use whatever method works best for you (unless it requires lots of water!). The orgasm helps the cervix dip into the vaginal pool and suck up sperm -- it helps get more sperm up there, and may speed sperm travel. Avoid penetration (as in intercourse or with vibrator). This falls in the can't hurt, might help category.

j) You can use water and a mild germicidal soap to clean your supplies if they will have time to dry completely before re-use, or run very hot water over them. Otherwise you can use saline to clean everything.

Timing for this kind of insemination is the same as for intercourse -- if possible. The best timing is the day before LH surge (as detected with an ovulation predictor kit), day of LH surge, and next 2-3 days, the last day or two being insurance. If you don't have all those options, the day of the LH surge and the day after are best.

The advantage to this method is that you don't need any fitted equipment! You don't even need a speculum (though you can use one).

The success rate is the same as with intercourse, perhaps a bit less because there are usually fewer opportunities for insemination and timing may not cover the bases as well.

Not very romantic but hey, if it works, why not?

[Lirael]

I think I would want the donor to be 'clean and free of disease'
I am worried about genetic disorders though, My son has congenital hypothyroidism and signs of aspergers/autism which I have been told are linked to his father.....
do they do genetic screening or something?

thanks for all your help. sorry jess for taking over ur thread

[jo-anne.36]

hi they do that at the clinics good luck hon with your search xxxx jojo