To ask, if you had a baby with donor sperm…

[Selenaso]

How long the whole process took? Not really an AIBU, posting for traffic. It’s something I’m currently investigating, as a single woman, and I’m just trying to figure out all the processes and timelines. From what I can gather, you contact a private clinic, they run some fertility tests on you to make sure it’s actually a viable prospect (and decide whether to recommend that you do IUI or IVF), and ask you to do a counselling session to make sure you understand all the implications involved. Then if things look positive you select a donor from one of the online banks. But how long does it take from selecting a donor to when you can actually have treatment? I’ve seen some mentions online of quarantining the sperm for six months to make sure it doesn’t have any diseases - is this correct? If it’s something you’ve done, how long did it take you from contacting the clinic to actually having your first IUI or IVF treatment?

It's not the sperm which takes months, as it will already have been through checks before it is frozen- it's the tests on the recipient which take the time, plus waiting for counselling (if you choose to have it- we didn't) and waiting around for ovulation.

I disagree- why did the same poster feel the need to post the same thing three times when the OP had already explained that wasn't what she was looking for? I'd have been pissed off too.

I first went to a clinic for a fertility check and initial tests in November, ordered the sperm in January and then had my first round of IUI in April.

I think I could have ordered the sperm sooner to speed things up but once I'd ordered it it took a while for the sperm bank to liaise with my clinic and then to send it from Denmark even though it was a sperm bank my clinic worked with a lot.

A close friend and her DH did it. They both had issues with their fertility, so had to go for donor egg and donor sperm, via IVF.
If I remember correctly, they did 3 (maybe 4) rounds with a local clinic. Got pregnant on round 3 or 4, but it was very short-lived. It was getting expensive, so they decided to try abroad. Round 5 abroad resulted in pregnancy, but the baby turned out to have a very difficult, life limiting disability. So they decided to terminate at a late stage. It was a very difficult time, very tragic. It was deemed nothing to do with the IVF. Could have happened to anyone.
They very quickly went back for round 6, got pregnant and had a happy ending.

From first enquiry with the local clinic, to giving birth to healthy baby, it took about 4 years. They did try other things, including egg collection, from my friend, before going for the double donor method.

I know of a lady on YouTube called Bryony, I think her channel is called PreciousStarVlogs, who is a single mum who decided to have a baby alone (she's from the UK). Her circumstances are probably much more similar to yours. She now has a nearly-one year old, and has talked at length, and very openly about the process she went through. I'm sure if you watched her videos, you'd get a good idea of how it all works.

When you take the injection to prepare your eggs to be harvested the next day ensure you have an instrument to check your blood pressure. If your blood pressure falls dramatically call an ambulance. Even the best doctor sometimes overestimate the amount you need to inject yourself with before the harvesting of the eggs.

My blood pressure fell to 50 one of the times and I nearly died. If your blood pressure falls dramatically you need to get a drip to elevate it.