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
First steps
bruyere
Junior Member Junior Member
Hello everyone!
My wife and I have decided to start the process. I am 31 and she is 27. We have found a wonderful physician who advised at home insemination using ICI. We want to start trying in December, somehow I feel I will get pregnant on the first try (wishful thinking or trusting the universe).
As for the donor. We are 95% sure about which donor we want. I always thought I would pick an ID donor and loved the idea of the sibling registry, and the first donor I liked matched those criterias, with two births of twins by two lesbian couples living in California like us. But my wife feels differently, as she will not be carrying the child she wants the donor to be anonymous so she can feel more connected to our child. She doesn't like the idea of our child being in touch with a bunch of half siblings. The donor we picked is anonymous. I am originally blonde with blue green eyes and she is of Mexican/German/native American/Irish origins so she has dark eyes and hair. The donor is blonde with blue eyes but his facial features match hers (same nose, eyes shape). He is about 6 in his childhood photo (the only photograph available) and it's a really nice portrait. I would rather have a donor with dark hair, eyes and tanned skin like hers, but she is set on him. He is the cutest of all the photos we've checked (thanks to the free childhood photos offer), and we've checked dozens!
Anyway, we are really excited, I would like to share stories with others in the same situation and am also interested in the ID/anonymous donor choice and the physical resemblance topics.
Elfie
My wife and I have decided to start the process. I am 31 and she is 27. We have found a wonderful physician who advised at home insemination using ICI. We want to start trying in December, somehow I feel I will get pregnant on the first try (wishful thinking or trusting the universe).
As for the donor. We are 95% sure about which donor we want. I always thought I would pick an ID donor and loved the idea of the sibling registry, and the first donor I liked matched those criterias, with two births of twins by two lesbian couples living in California like us. But my wife feels differently, as she will not be carrying the child she wants the donor to be anonymous so she can feel more connected to our child. She doesn't like the idea of our child being in touch with a bunch of half siblings. The donor we picked is anonymous. I am originally blonde with blue green eyes and she is of Mexican/German/native American/Irish origins so she has dark eyes and hair. The donor is blonde with blue eyes but his facial features match hers (same nose, eyes shape). He is about 6 in his childhood photo (the only photograph available) and it's a really nice portrait. I would rather have a donor with dark hair, eyes and tanned skin like hers, but she is set on him. He is the cutest of all the photos we've checked (thanks to the free childhood photos offer), and we've checked dozens!
Anyway, we are really excited, I would like to share stories with others in the same situation and am also interested in the ID/anonymous donor choice and the physical resemblance topics.
Elfie
Comments
Good luck with your baby-making! It's a wild ride!
My wife and I had a different view on the ID Options issue, we actually limited our search to donors who WERE willing to be contacted by the child someday. It was very important to us that our child have the option to explore his/her biological roots. I think our view of this was influenced by the fact that my wife is adopted, and has found her birth parents, so she is in a unique position to imagine how our baby may feel about this when he/she grows up. We are lucky that we both feel the same way about this, so there was no arguing!
I don't know if our child will have any interest in the donor, or half siblings. But I would feel wrong in denying them the ability to learn about those people. And if my wife and I have built a good relationship with our kid(s), then I don't think the introduction of a donor at age 18 will be any threat to our family relationships.
Oceanblue2, your story resonates to me. I also have a friend who was adopted from Columbia when she was a baby and grew up in France with French parents and I've witnessed her longing to find out where she comes from (she can't find her biological family), and it in no way lessening her love and belonging of her adoptive family. But her being an only child made her feel even more lonely. This is one of the reason why I'd pick an ID donor over an anonymous one, but I can see both sides.
I believe our donor had 0 reported pregnancies prior to ours- and we conceived triplets on the first try with him so it may have just been bad matches for whatever reason prior to ours.
"Is there a quality standard that Fairfax Cryobank sets for all of the donors?
All our donors must meet a minimum post-thaw (PT) total motile cell (TMC) count. ICI (unwashed) and IUI (pre-washed) specimens have a minimum PT standard of 10 million TMC. IVF specimens have a minimum PT standard of 5 million TMC per vial. See our specimen quality standard for more information."
Some people find that they don't have luck until they switch donors, but that can be about compatibility too.
Oh also, probably some people are not good about reporting pregnancies. Have you talked to a Fairfax Cryobank rep about this question? I thought they were really helpful, and I'm sure they are more informed than me!
Thanks,
Viviana