I managed to read through all the gumpf last night.
The pack contained...
Covering letter
Price sheet
Donor Insemination (DI) Patient Information form
Legal Parenthood Information sheet
Use of Donor Sperm Information sheet
and 2 copies of a 24 page Consent Booklet
Covering letter.
Listed what the pack contained and explained that the initial counseling appointment will take place at the Plymouth Nuffield Clinic, but the treatment will take place in the hospital. I assumed all the treatment would be done at the clinic, but the hospital is just opposite so it's not a problem.
The letter also informed me the next step was to fill out both Consent Booklets (one is my copy, one for the hospital) and to call when ready for the initial counseling session.
During this session they will do tests for: Blood group, Cytomegalovirus status, luteal phase, Progesterone level, Rubella and Chlamydia titres for me. All they need from C is a Blood group! Lucky me :)
The charge for this session is £150 which needs to be paid for when we go in for the appointment.
Price sheet
At the moment I think we are looking at the difference between Intra Cervical Insemination (ICI) at £352, or Intra Uterine Insemination (IUI) at £452.
With ICI the sperm is placed in the cervix, and with IUI it is placed in the uterus (if additional drug stimulation is needed more fees are added).
I'm not sure what would be best yet, as different methods are more suitable for different people, but this will be discussed at the initial appointment.
We're not looking at IVF yet, hopefully it won't be needed, so will leave it out for the moment.
Donor Insemination (DI) Patient Information form
Basic form with name, address & Dr surgery details to be filled out for both me and C. Also covers previous medical history and Donor Matching Characteristics like hair and eye colour to try to match the sperm with mine and C's features.
Legal Parenthood Information sheet
Very useful fact-sheet detailing the change in law regarding legal parenthood that was effective from April 2009. Was very happy to find out that as me and C have been 'married' in a Civil Partnership, C will automatically be listed as the 2nd parent on the birth certificate (unless she specifically states she has never consented to the treatment)
Use of Donor Sperm Information sheet
Another useful fact-sheet about the Donor sperm.
We have 5 options to get donor sperm...
1)Join the waiting list and wait for sperm to become available (there has been a drop in donors since the change in law regarding donor anonymity in 2005) so not sure how long this will take.
2)Import sperm from abroad. As the sperm needs to be from an approved laboratory, and there are courier fees on top, this could increase the costs to about £1000-£2000. Not an option for us.
3)Travel to another clinic ie in London. Not really feasible for us, also costs can differ from clinic to clinic, so could end up being very expensive too.
4)Buy sperm from another UK clinic. This can cost as much as buying from abroad, so not an option for us.
5)Find our own donor and bring him to the clinic. He would have to go through the same tests and processing as a donor. However, we know no-one we could ask to do this, and also don't want to complicate matters by knowing the biological father.
So option 1, wait & see, seems to be best for us.
The sheet also had interesting info regarding the donor, specifically... 'The donor has no responsibility or financial obligations to a child resulting from treatment.' which means me or the child cannot claim for 16 years of maintenance or pocket money! :)
They can also only find out non-identifying info about how many children have been born from their donations, the sex and year of births.
When the baby reaches 16 they can access info about the number, gender and year of birth of any siblings, and non-identifying information about the donor.
When they reach 18, they can also request identifying information about the donor.
Me and C would only be able to request non-identifying information, which can include a pen portrait and a goodwill message from the donor (which I think is a lovely touch)
2 copies of a 24 page Consent Booklet
We were asked to fill them in and bring them with us, but we are not allowed to sign or date them until the initial appointment. 23 pages are basically just signing and dating, so filled in what I could.
So...the next step is to book the initial appointment :)
7th August 2010
Finally an update! :)
I was ill a few weeks back, and while I was at the doctors I asked him for a referral letter.
He said he'd send one up to the clinic and if we hadn't heard anything after a couple of weeks to give the clinic a call.
Last week I called them up and they said they had my letter but were just waiting for an updated price list before sending an information pack out.
We received it today and it's got a lot of stuff to read through. The price had only gone up by £2 so that's a relief.
The next step is to read through all the information, fill out the 24 page consent booklet then ring up to book the consultation.
I was ill a few weeks back, and while I was at the doctors I asked him for a referral letter.
He said he'd send one up to the clinic and if we hadn't heard anything after a couple of weeks to give the clinic a call.
Last week I called them up and they said they had my letter but were just waiting for an updated price list before sending an information pack out.
We received it today and it's got a lot of stuff to read through. The price had only gone up by £2 so that's a relief.
The next step is to read through all the information, fill out the 24 page consent booklet then ring up to book the consultation.
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