Hello and welcome to the Fairfax Cryobank Family Forum!
The forum has a new look and the Fairfax Team is so excited to create the best experience for our users.
To Note:
Private Donor Groups and Private Sibling Connection Groups are now located under the category "Groups". Search the donor number in the search box and you should find exactly what you're looking for!
Questions about your forum access? Email forum@fairfaxcryobank.com
Follow these steps to join a private donor group:
1) Press "Join" at the right of the group
2) Once prompted to confirm your request please list this information so we can verify your information:
Name (under which the vial was purchased)
Email
Clinic Name
Donor number
Child Date of Birth
*If you are looking to start a private group for a PRS donor please email forum@fairfaxcryobank.com with the above information and that you are looking for a PRS group*
If you have any questions about the verification process please email forum@fairfaxcryobank.com
The forum has a new look and the Fairfax Team is so excited to create the best experience for our users.
To Note:
Private Donor Groups and Private Sibling Connection Groups are now located under the category "Groups". Search the donor number in the search box and you should find exactly what you're looking for!
Questions about your forum access? Email forum@fairfaxcryobank.com
Follow these steps to join a private donor group:
1) Press "Join" at the right of the group
2) Once prompted to confirm your request please list this information so we can verify your information:
Name (under which the vial was purchased)
Clinic Name
Donor number
Child Date of Birth
*If you are looking to start a private group for a PRS donor please email forum@fairfaxcryobank.com with the above information and that you are looking for a PRS group*
If you have any questions about the verification process please email forum@fairfaxcryobank.com
Where to start?
Hello,
My partner and I plan to start a family in the next year, and we're both thinking "where do we start?"
I currently see a doctor at the Uptown clinic in Minneapolis I have read from another poster that they work with same sex couples but I have read on other sites that folks have gone to speciality doctors and I am just a bit lost. I have also read about many people going to see their doctor and getting a ton of blood tests done.
I am really just wondering if its too early for me to plan anything since we're not going to even try for a year.
Thanks.
My partner and I plan to start a family in the next year, and we're both thinking "where do we start?"
I currently see a doctor at the Uptown clinic in Minneapolis I have read from another poster that they work with same sex couples but I have read on other sites that folks have gone to speciality doctors and I am just a bit lost. I have also read about many people going to see their doctor and getting a ton of blood tests done.
I am really just wondering if its too early for me to plan anything since we're not going to even try for a year.
Thanks.
Comments
The blood tests are pretty common. They are common things like hormones, thyroid and some other stuff. You have to get them done. There are other tests as well, but we skipped those as we knew there wasnt an infertility issue. I live an hour north of the cities and use Diamonds Womens Clinic in Edina. My partner did it two years ago and now its my turn. I had my first appointment on Thursday. I will get the blood work done on day 3 of my cycle and start clomid the same time. Around day 12 I will get an ultrasound to see if the eggs are big enough to release. If they are then I will give myself a shot that night to release them. Then I will go in 36 hours later to get inseminated.
I can get my blood work and ultrasound done at my regular clinci up here. However I have to go down there for the actual procedure.
I would recommend finding out what insurance does and doesnt cover. It can be an expensive journey, and for my my insurance only covers part of it. This however allowed me time to save money for the rest.
Just start with talking to your regular health care provider. If you don't have any other issues going on, you won't necessarily have to have any other testing done. I didn't have any fertility issues when I was trying to get pregnant with my first child, so we we were able to just do IUIs at my regular clinic, Women's Health Consultants. And if you do have something going on that would make them want you to get testing done, then at least you're doing it early on instead of a few months in to trying.
As much as possible, just try to relax and not stress about everything. That's so much easier said than done, of course!
If you have any questions along the way, just ask.
Good luck!
My partner and I went through him back in 08 and I am currently in the process with him again. I just had my first ultrasound and blood tests today. Started clomid today as well and will go in next monday for another ultrasound.
They do, do medicated and release shots, and blood work. However as I was told and do agree with, if your going to spend the kind of money it costs to do this, then you might as well give it the best shot you can right away. My partner took on the first try back in 08 and I am hopeing to get that lucky this time around.
Good luck!
I'm new here and was interested in your adivse. My partner and I are ttc and have been unsucessful thus far. I am 34 with no health or fertility problems, very regular. We tried 6 cycles with a known donor, using fresh sperm which was unsucessful. Possibly because a low sperm count and his schedule made proper timing difficult. We have now moved to using a frozen donor here.
I see many of you speak of taking drugs, getting shots and ultrasounds. Is that par for the course when doing iui? How many cycles did it take for you to have success? My doctor isn't very forthcoming with information. I think she might be uncomfrontable with the whole process.
Also, how did you select your donor? There are several donors that are annoymous that I really favor, but think we might settle for our third choice, whom is a known donor so our kids will have the option of knowing something about their donor.
Thank you for any advice or suggestions you might have. It's nice to have an outlet.
I don't necessarily think drugs and ultrasounds are par for the course as long as you don't have other fertility issues going on. My clinic doesn't do any of those things unless you have fertility issues. Other clinics are more aggressive from the get go.
It took us 5 tries to get pregnant with my son in 2004. We tried three rounds with one donor in fall of 2003 with no luck, then another round with that donor in April 2004 with no luck. We switched donors on the 5th try and go pregnant in June of 2004. We started ttc #2 last fall and did two rounds with no luck. We're going to try again later this month. Our donor doesn't have a lot of vials left and is no longer participating in the program, so I'm feeling a little more anxious about it all...
I really wish our donor was willing to be known down the road. If we were starting over, that would be my top factor in deciding on a donor. It can be hard to decide. We came up with a list of our top donors, and then sent them to our families to help us. Our moms, who are both nurses, helped us weed out the more significant medical issues, and came up with the same top two donors!
Thanks for your reply. I appreciate your willingness to share.
Unfortunatly for us, there is only one "known donor" available that we like. Well, he actually isn't even available, but I'm on the wait list if anyone turns in vials.
So we're kind of forced into using a donor whom isn't known. That said, I see that on donorsiblingregistry.com our #1 choice has registered children already, so we will have the chance to connect with 1/2 siblings. I am curious in a world where so much is available online, whether our donor will ever look for us. I would suspect that as he ages, he may be more curious? I'm holding onto hope that could or would happen.
When you say it took 5 tries to have a sucessful pregnancy. How many times did you try per cycle and was it IUI or ICI?
Lastly, if you haven't visited donorsiblingregistry.com, I suggest that you do. Many people are selling there remaining vials there. If your donor is no longer active, perhaps you could purchase more vials there?
Thanks again for sharing your story, and good luck when you try again. I'll keep fingers crossed for you.
Yes, I have been on the donor sibling registry! I connected with two families who used the same donor. We exchanged photos, and it was amazing to see the similarities between the kids. It's funny because so many people comment on how much my son looks like me, but clearly there are a few features he must have gotten from his donor because all of the kids have the same eyes and nose.
When are you planning to start ttc again? I will keep my fingers crossed for you!