# Newbies Devon-great to see you all!



## Yarrow (Jun 22, 2008)

hello,

We have been out West for a couple of years, came from Brighton, been looking for a co-parenting couple for over a year and now considering known donor/uncle figure. Having some trouble understanding how to go about it all, clinics, forums, friends, websites,sperm donors, feeling quite isolated with it all at times...

Would welcome any advice on clinics to approach, also some help with the common abbreviations used, is there a sticky about them somewhere?? IUI LWC?

We've been on gayfamilyoptions and co-parentmatch.com for a while, seems pretty quiet on those fronts...

Have lots I'd like to talk about with people, has anyone else been on the co-parenting route just via the net?

XX Yarrow and Emma


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## magsandemma (Oct 18, 2006)

HI
Just wanted to welcome you girls to the boards, altho I cant offer any advice on the co-parenting front we went thro the london womens clinic for ICSI with donor sperm, however I am sure someone will be able to give you some advice on here, hope things get going for you soon, good luck with it all.
Maggie, Emma & Louise
xxx


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## motos (Mar 14, 2008)

Hi Yarrow

I know, it can be overwhelming! Recommend you go to the Rainbow Families forum on Gingerbeer.co.uk - primarily for Londoners but there are people from all over the place there. There's a useful sticky that will give you some acronymns and places to go for further info.

Good luck!


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## lucky2010 (Jan 10, 2006)

Hi Yarrow, IUI LWC = Intra Uterine Insemination at the London Womens Clinic!!!

We found our known donor on free-sperm-donations.com but are not co-parenting. good luck

Rach


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## Yarrow (Jun 22, 2008)

Wow, great to have a response, thanks all! i've spent ages online over the past year joining things and not quite finding the conversations I needed to see and have, what a relief to find a place where others are going through the same things!!
xx


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## nismat (Mar 7, 2005)

Hi Yarrow & Emma, and welcome! It is so good to find an appropriate forum to discuss lesbian ttc (trying to conceive) isn't it?
There is indeed a sticky with lots of the commonly used abbreviations - go here http://www.fertilityfriends.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=101841.0
We didn't go down the co-parenting/known donor route at all so I can't offer advice on that front; we also used London Women's Clinic to conceive Toby using anonymous (traceable) donor sperm. But this is a great place to ask any questions you have; there are people who have taken lots of different routes to conception, it's not just clinic-based donor sperm users (even if that's the route the majority of us have taken).
As Motos said, the Rainbow Families messageboard on the forums at www.gingerbeer.co.uk is another great place for info/sharing (busier than here!) - and you really don't need to worry about it being too London-centred; the RF forum isn't at all. 
Best wishes,
Tamsin


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## nickster (Jul 6, 2007)

Hi Yarrow

I won't be able to give a detailed reply right now (I'm grappling with the constant demands of a 12-day-old baby!), but just thought I'd let you know that my partner and I decided to go down the co-parenting route. We're doing it with a very close friend and his (gay) partner. We're the primary home - they live abroad - but they'll be closely involved in our daughter's life and very much regarded as fathers.

The main thing I'd say is that you need to be certain that you and your co-parents have a very clear idea of how things are going to work from the start - and of course that you trust each other implicitly. It's a bit of a legal minefield, so you really don't want things to go wrong or for expectations to change after the baby has arrived... 

We spent about two years discussing and digesting the implications of our arrangement, and even then there have been quite significant misunderstandings and upsets (which we eventually managed to resolve but not without a good deal of heartache on both sides). That said, it's all going really well so far... fingers crossed it stays that way. 

Nickyx


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