As we were walking up to our Fertility Centre we were a little apprehensive about the whole situation.
I was feeling sick as we were walking there because at that time it was still situated at King Edward Memorial Hospital, the same hospital where we had the procedure to end our first pregnancy. In fact we were only just a corridor and a corner away from that day surgery unit.
We didn’t really know what to expect. All that we knew was that we were going to be having a counselling appointment and were well on our way to using a fertility clinic. I looked around the tiny waiting room where they had different pamphlets and information sheets, sperm and egg donation information and plenty of photos of children who I am assuming were the product of successful treatment.
After waiting a little while a lady came out and said to come through. We were led to a room where our first counselling appointment would be held. The lady seemed friendly and both Amber and I felt comfortable talking with her.
Most of the appointment felt more like a friendly chat rather than an actually counselling session. She was asking about what our plans were and when we would be starting the whole process. We said that we had a donor that we were thinking of using as they had three straws in storage that we could use but we were also thinking about going on the waiting list for a sperm donor through concept just in case our other plan didn’t work.
She said to us that maybe we were better off just going on the waiting list.
She mentioned that for one attempt at pregnancy they would probably use two straws, only leaving us with one in case they didn’t work with the donor we had. She also explained that the donor would have to also have counselling and have a six month cooling off period where he could change his mind. We said we would think about that some more.
She also explained that if we were to go on the donor waiting list that Amber and I could actually use the same donor and our children could actually be half siblings. This sounded a little more appealing to both of us. It was also explained to us that in Western Australia our children who were the product of a sperm donation could find out their biological father’s information at sixteen. We said we would officially go on the waiting list as of that day and the lady said that it could possibly take up to a year to get a donor. We agreed that it was ok and we would just see what happened.
Once we had finished everything and expressed our concerns and asked all of our questions we were instructed to wait to see a nurse as Amber would have to have some initial blood tests to check her health and what not.
So back to the small waiting room again where I noticed they had plans up on their wall for a new purpose-built centre they were in the middle of construction for in Subiaco. Who would know at that moment of me looking at the plans that it would be that exact place we have visited more times than I would care to count.
Amber was taken to another small room and had those blood tests she needed to have.
I was hoping that this new centre they were building was at least a little bit more roomy and comfortable. (It is an amazing and comfortable building.)
As we left we were reminded that it may take some time to get a sperm donor but they would be in contact as soon as they had something available. Three weeks later the phone rang and it was a nurse at Concept letting us know that we were on top of the waiting list and had donors ready now if we wanted! Wow things were moving quickly! We had only just told the sperm donor Amber’s mum had found for us that we were no longer wanting to use his sperm and we were already on our way to having our own donor!
We had a think about it and decided we weren’t ready at that moment to pick a donor but knew that we were at least at the top of the waiting list. They were fine with us not being ready yet but reminded us that even though we were on top of the list, when we were ready there might not be any donors available at that time.
We were happy with that and said we would be in contact with them as soon as we were ready – we just weren’t expecting them to have a donor for us so soon!