Who's the woman?

We were both getting a little impatient as our appointment letter still hadn't arrived, so Nicky rang the ACU on Monday to see if she could find out how long it might take. They said that we would need to fill in a questionnaire before the appointment could be arranged, which would be sent out within a week. It came in the post on Thursday, and we were both really excited to fill it in!

It was a bit confusing as the main form was split into two halves - one for the "woman", and one for the "man/partner". The whole referral is in my name so we didn't know whether I was supposed to fill out the "woman" section, even though Nicky will be be the one to carry our baby. The guidance notes weren't very helpful, but in the end we decided that Nicky would be the "woman". It seemed more appropriate as it was asking questions about the regularity of her period, her most recent cervical smear results and any past pregnancies, however none of it really addressed our specific situation - that we would like to use my egg. Surely they will need to know these sorts of details for me too? I guess this will all be discussed at our first appointment. The additional information seemed to indicate that we will also need to go for a counselling session to talk about the implications of conceiving a child using donor sperm, but this might be geared more towards heterosexual couples, we're not sure.

There was another form that we each needed to complete, asking questions about any concerns we might have about the welfare of any child that were to be born as a result of treatment at the clinic, due to issues in the family or environment. Thankfully we have none!

We posted the completed and signed forms back to the unit today, so we'll hopefully receive our appointment letter in the next few weeks. We've got a Royal Mail redirection set up already, so it won't matter if we've already moved before it arrives as it will be automatically forwarded to our new address.  I really wish we'd taken a copy of the forms before we sent them back, as neither of us remember all the questions that were on there and it might be interesting to look back on, but maybe we can ask the Unit for a copy later on.

We went house hunting at the beginning of the month and managed to find a really lovely three-bedroom house with a low-maintenance garden perfect for outdoor dining and growing herbs and vegetables for the table. It's perfect, we can't wait to move, especially after all the riots that happened in London this week - no-one is asking us why we want to leave the city any more! Nicky will be able to walk to work, and I'll be using the smallest bedroom as a study to work from home.

Less than two weeks until Moving Day!

Referral!

Nicky and I went back to the doctor for a follow-up appointment this morning, as he was very honest on Friday and said that he had no idea what fertility options were available on the NHS for same-sex couples. He needed some time to speak to colleagues and find out exactly what the guidelines are for our borough.

He began by saying that he was unable to refer Nicky as she's too young - the guidelines say that she needs to be at least 23, and coincidentally her 23rd birthday is in September - but he can refer me instead! We're referred as a couple, but the referral itself has to be in one of our names so it doesn't matter that I don't want to be the one to carry the baby. He weighed me to check that my BMI is under 30, which it is, said that we would receive our appointment letter in the next week or so, and that was it!

Our appointment at the Assisted Conception Unit will be within the next 18 weeks, which is about mid November, and then treatment should start in the next year. They'll do tests to see what would be the best option for us, but normally the NHS will fund one round of IVF or three rounds of IUI apparently.

Still a long way to go, but it's so exciting that we're in the process! I can't believe it's starting!