December 2016

Looking for a surrogate

Surrogacy
December 20, 2016June 1, 2020

We don’t have to actively look for a surrogate. That is what the surrogacy agency is for, so Canadian Fertility Consulting (CFC) assists us to look for one and also matching with them. After we told CFC that we will be utilising their services at the end of the first week of December 2016, they have been putting us in the loop for surrogates. Their policy is that if we don’t get matched with a surrogate, we won’t have to pay for their agency fees. Well, that was a fair deal for us, as they will be actively looking in order to earn the fees! The other agencies tend to take the fees before they start any sourcing and matching. The thing is we can choose a surrogate or surrogates all we like but it is ultimately the choice of the surrogate. They have to choose us, no questions asked.

Tinder – my first taste

Thoughts
December 18, 2016June 1, 2020

This weekend I had my first taste of Tinder – the dating app for heterosexual men and women looking for a date or something more.

I was at a dinner with Cameron and his mate, Chris, whom he hasn’t caught up in two years. Chris was over from Adelaide for the weekend. We caught up over a delicious Japanese dinner at Nobu Melbourne, the three of us spoke about many things from his work, to our work, to the crazy good food before us, to his social life. Yes, we did pay quite a bit of interest to Tinder which Cameron and I do not use, and will never think of using even if we were living single lives. We have other apps that are designed for homosexual men such as Grindr, GROWLr, Jack’d, Hornet and Scruff.

Looking for an egg donor

Surrogacy
December 14, 2016June 1, 2020

We have never had to look for an egg donor before so we didn’t know what to focus on initially, but we found it to be an interesting experience. Looking for an egg donor could be like a beauty pageant and you are the judge, or it could be like a matching of physical appearance to one or both of the Intended Parents (IPs). As our chosen egg donor agency is based in Canada, we have more Canadian egg donors, less international ones. I have to add that egg donation is mostly anonymous and is altruistic. These wonderful women do it for the love of it, out of their own beautiful heart. They only get reimbursed for their expenses. No compensation for egg donation.

Egg Donor Agency consultations completed!

Surrogacy
December 14, 2016June 1, 2020

Normally the IVF Clinics will have their own egg donor database so clients of theirs will be able to have access to it, but it obviously ties in well with the surrogacy agency’s business too, as two of the four surrogacy agencies that we have contacted have their own sister companies managing an egg donor database! I guess it is a very good income stream. These two egg donor agencies happen to be the only two in Canada at this stage.

Egg donors in Canada are like the surrogates, they are altruistic, which means that they do not get money from donating their eggs. They do it out of the kindness of their hearts and only request for reimbursement of their medical fees during the egg donation process. We keep thinking how could there be women who are so compassionate and so helpful? We are definitely so grateful to women who choose to be so selfless and kind.

Fertility Lawyer consultations completed!

Surrogacy
December 13, 2016June 1, 2020

Who knew that there are so many legal contracts during a surrogacy process? We didn’t. But it was all good to understand the reasons behind it, all to protect all involved, less the agency and the IVF Clinic. We had to look for lawyers! The surrogacy agencies will be able to recommend but we prefer to go with the ones we are comfortable with. We wanted to be as involved as possible especially when we are located on the other side of the world!

IVF Clinic consultations completed!

Surrogacy
December 9, 2016June 1, 2020

When we had our consultation with Canadian Fertility Consulting, they recommended us to speak with the IVF Clinics as we have to figure out which clinic would be best for us, or will be most comfortable with. They recommended us to have consultations with:

One from Canada and the other from the USA. They wanted us to compare for ourselves which one is better.