Where to begin?

In September 2009, one month after my 36th birthday, I made an appointment with my doctor to discuss donor insemination. I really didn't know how to go about starting this process. At this point I didn't even know if this route was for me. I am a believer in the "energy of the universe", so asking the questions I knew would bring me closer to finding what the best answers for me would be...

In October 2009 I decided to take my doctor's advice and go through all of the blood work to check to see if I was immune to particular diseases that a vaccine could be given (German Measles, Hep A & B, etc.). Turns out I was not immune to Hep A & B and she recommended I take the 3 vaccines for these, this helped me pick a date to work with, since the vaccines required 6 months to complete (1st, 2nd, and 6th month). Many friends who are parents thought this was a strange request from my doctor, however I work in an inner city school in downtown Toronto and many of our students are newly landed immigrants. I understood her reasoning and having the vaccine just made sense, so I picked up my first dosage and schedule an appointment to have the nurse give me the needle. Unfortunately this was also the same time of year the H1N1 shots were being given and regular flu shots, being in the field I am in I got both of those too. My arms were sore for a little bit, but I didn't feel any side affects.

The time between my first shot and second gave my doctor time to discuss my options with her colleagues and during my November vaccine appointment we discussed beginning steps. She provided me with two clinics where I could view online and eventually she would write a referral for the clinic of my choice. She also provided me with various supports for women having children on their own. I began to collect lots of information which helped me narrow down what I was looking for and what direction I felt comfortable with. I began to dicuss my options with friends, the more I talked about it, the better I felt about my decision.

Around the same time, my friend and one of her colleagues were having a conversation and she found out that this woman had already had one child through donor insemination and was beginning the steps to have her second child. She gladly gave my friend her email and we began to exchange messages about our journey. She introduced me to a group of women who meet monthly. They are all single women choosing motherhood through alternative methods. All of these women have strong desires to be mothers, each with their own story of how they arrived here. After attending my first meeting I gathered enough information from the women in the group and I was able to choose a clinic which fit my needs best. My doctor made the referral in November and in December I was contacted with an appointment date for my first consultation in February 2010.

And so it begins.