17/04/2019 The day we attend the fertility clinic for the second
time (Wednesday)
We arrive at the clinic for 9.23 am again, our appointment
is scheduled for 9.30 am.
It is a lovely day. The sun is shining, not a cloud in the
sky.
We make our way into the fertility clinic and are greeted
once again by Matthew, our coordinator. He asks what we have been up to and we
tell him about all the food we've eaten over the last couple of days, the
shopping and chilling at the hotel 😁☺😋
Matthew explains that the doctor is on her way and that we
should go ahead and provide our next sperm sample. This time we also need to
leave a urine sample too. He tells us that by the time we have produced the
samples the doctor will be ready to see us and do the consultation.
We make our way back to the sample room. This time the urine
sample pot is pre-printed with our names and dates of birth. We still need to
write the information of the other sample pot. Why the urine sample
pot is smaller than the sperm sample pot I’ll never know or understand… unless
they also help Elephants become parents and require samples from them too,
HAHA! I didn’t realise that we would need to provide urine samples too
and so didn’t hold my water this morning (D’oh!) – I ask Matthew for a bottle
of water. I drink the bottle of water as quickly as possible and turn on the
cold tap in the sample room too for good measure (always easier to pee when you
can hear running water… why is that!?!). I do the business, in both respects,
and exit the room so that Leo can do the same.
Not long after Leo re-emerges from the sample room and we
proceed to the lab to deposit our samples. We pass back over the sticky white mat
(designed to capture dirt and bacteria from your shoes) and take a seat back in
the waiting room. Matthew collects us a minute or so later and escorts us
through into the doctor’s office.
We walk into the doctor’s office and are introduced to Dr
Ann, who is a lady in her mid-70’s. I already knew what to expect as I had done
a bit of research on her before we travelled to the United States. Doctor Ann
is a specialist in the field of reproductive medicine and used to be an
Associate Professor at Harvard University in Cambridge MA.
We take a seat and introduce ourselves to Dr Ann and she in
turn introduces herself. She apologises for not having been available on Monday
but says that this has meant that she has had an opportunity to look at the
first sperm samples that we provided. She hands us each a report that lists
lots of statistics and values which relate to the samples that we provided on
Monday morning. Dr Ann tells us that everything looks good with the samples and
that we both have good sperm counts and that mobility is good too – this should
mean that, subject to no other medical issues, we shouldn’t have any problem
when it comes to making embryos using our sperm and the Egg Donors eggs. I’m relieved
at this news as I’d never had a fertility test (Leo had already at Care
Fertility Sheffield) and so didn’t have a clue whether my little swimmers were
good or not.
The doctor asks us to give her some background as to how we
have come to use the clinics services and what our plan is for the rest of the surrogacy
process. We explain that we have signed an agreement with Babybloom in Israel,
who will project manage the whole surrogacy process for us from start to Birth
(finish).
Babybloom was founded by a chap called Guy Tatsa. Guy and
his husband have three children who are all a result of International Surrogacy
in the US. Guy’s eldest daughter is now a teenager and it was after the birth
of their first baby that Guy founded Babybloom. Guy had dealt with the process first-hand
and witnessed how difficult and complex it was. He wanted to set up a business to
help people in the same situation become parents in the same way that he and
his husband had. I explained that in addition to having regular skype calls
with Guy, we also have a co-ordinator called Liron.
Liron and his husband also live in Israel and too have
children as a result of international surrogacy in the US.
We explain that we have already shortlisted 7 – 8 potential
egg donors. Dr Ann asks us which clinic’s egg donor databases we have had access
too. I check my email and read out each of the clinic’s names. Dr Ann
questioned why all the potential egg donor clinics were situated on the west
coast of America and why there weren’t any nearby on the East coast. I said
that I would make a note and ask Liron to confirm. Dr Ann also asks whether
Babybloom had mentioned frozen egg banks. I make a note to ask Liron whether
this might be another option that we can look at.
Apparently, frozen egg banks aren’t any cheaper than using
the services of a live egg donor. However, they can be more readily available
as you don’t need to book in an egg harvest and wait for the donors’ cycle,
etc. The process of freezing eggs (Egg vitrification) hasn’t always been
accepted. It became accepted about 15 years ago when scientists and doctors who
had perfected the vitrification process used for embryos was adapted to be
viable for freezing eggs (eggs tend to be more fragile than embryos).
Dr Ann takes us through the whole process from start to finish
and explains that when we have found our surrogate mother, she will do a
consultation with her to ensure that everything has been explained and the
surrogate is fully aware of the process and what is expected.
Dr Ann gives us three forms each to complete. One explains what
we would like to happen should one or both of us die (or as she puts it, “if
your plane goes down on the way home”). The other two are for our UK doctor to
complete and sign – a full medical examination and an authority to allow the
sem4 283 results to be released to us (to comply with Massachusetts state
laws).
We thank Dr Ann for the consultation. Matthew comes back
into the room to escort us back to the laboratory so that we can each provide blood
samples.
We meet a guy called Alex in the lab (he reminds me of Ross
from friends), he takes blood from both of us and explains that the samples
provided today will be sent to the lab for the Sema4 283 tests to take place.
Sema4 283 is one of the most comprehensive carrier screens
available. It screens for inherited disorders associated with 283 genes. For
example, cystic fibrosis, Parkinson’s disease, etc.
That’s it, samples provided. We thank Matthew and the team
for everything. Matthew explains that the sema4 283 test results are usually back
within 14 days, so it is important that we make arrangements to see our UK doctor
as soon as possible when back in the UK so that this doesn’t hold up the
process.
Matthew says goodbye and reminds us that the last visit is
scheduled for Friday morning – final sample day 😊
To be continued… xx
