Screening Update

Completed my final screening for bloods and urine today.

When this has been processed, the sperm from my second donation cycle will be available should it be needed.

Families Helped Update

The Clinic updated me today so say that I'd helped eight families in total so far, I have an almost even split of boys and girls, and into double figures with the total number of children born.

Apart from the initial multiple births, no families have had second live births yet though it is a little early for that to take place ...

Lost Earnings Problem

The previous post was going to be my last - but I have to tell you about the latest lost-earnings problem.

The clinic decided that the maximum I could claim for Travel Expenses + Lost Earnings was £250. I ended up getting the HFEA involved, and I believe the clinic went through a lot of pain to clarify the rules and now they agree that reasonable expenses are unlimited and loss of earnings have a £250 cap.

I took holiday from work to make my second donation cycle, and the clinic then decided in their wisdom that as I took paid-holiday that they'd not pay me lost earnings. Now I don't know about you, but paid-holiday is when you go on holiday. If you work when you are on holiday then you are not on holiday, you are working.

A few bunfights later, the clinic accepted to pay for my 'lost' holiday - though it was rather silly.

Hopefully the next Sperm Donor that donate at the clinic I used won't have the same problem ...

Second Cycle Complete - And Goodbye!

Just a quick blog update to say that my second cycle was completed a few days ago.

There were still a few problems, the clinic forgot that I needed to do a wee test on my final visit, and a few less important things.

Much of this blame must sit squarely on the shoulders of the HFEA who make it difficult for Clinic's to reimburse Donors (it cost me over £1,300 to make my donations) and therefore when a Clinic that is not used to dealing with donors, does get a donor, they tend to make a bit of a mess of it.

So in summary, nobody died, I helped make some families, it cost me some money, it was a bit stressful, it was worth it.

So that's the end of this blog. Thanks for reading and goodbye!

Second Donation Schedule & Remuneration

I wrote to the clinic earlier in the year to advise that I am considering a vasectomy once our third child has been delivered, and to ask whether they could contact my existing recipients to enquire whether they would like a 'matching' sibling for their child.

The result from the Clinic was a positive, and I have now started my second, and final donation cycle.

Now what I do need to make very clear is how well I am being looked after by the clinic.

Emails are responded to within a day, phone calls are returned within a couple of hours. This is welcome improvement from my earlier experience where it would take weeks to get any response. I am not sure what trigger this change, but it's reduced the stress factor immensely.

So at my first visit this year, I had a blood test, a urine test, and then provided my sample.

I spoke with the nurse to ask that she takes the bloods carefully, as you may recall that my Doctor's surgery botched a blood test last year, and the botched proble is still causing me pain. I can report that the bloods were taken very carefully and there was no additional nerve damage done.

Then there were was some confusion from the Clinic on the remuneration that I would be due. I contacted the HFEA who confirmed that the remuneration for a cycle would be a maximum £250 for loss of earnings plus 'reasonable' expenses as defined on the HFEA website. I have forwarded this information to the Clinic so they can update their procedures.

I will still lose money due to donating this second time, but the additional few pounds takes the sting out of the tail.

Once this cycle is complete, I will provide a final blood test 180 days after the last sample, and then, apart from updates from the clinic on live births, I am done.

New Arrival

A quick update, our baby safely arrived yesterday (2nd June) in a very brief labour.

We were blessed with a lovely baby boy, and both he and Mummy are doing really well.

The little fella has two direct brothers, and 10 half-siblings. What a lucky boy :-)

Pregnancy Outcomes to Date

I wanted to share with you some fantastic news.

The Fertility Clinic got back to me today with an update on the number of children born, and families helped by my donations.

There have been nine children born to date due to my choice to donate.

The 'ten family' limit hasn't been met yet, so as the year progresses I'll update.