warning: post containing potentially upsetting information at the very end so please read only if it applies to your situation
NC to add to this thread but just wanted to add a little bit of extra information I've gleaned having had the fairly devastating experience of a diagnosis of fatal fetal abnormality recently. This will really only apply to people who want to bring the products of the pregnancy home for burial- I'm sorry, I don't know how to word that more sensitively.
I organised everything myself via the wonderful BPAS website and helpline and travelled to Liverpool. The staff there were amazing and even the cab drivers to and from knew where we were headed and were just incredibly kind and sensitive- we even had a few laughs on the short journey from the airport, which I never expected. The Liverpudlians did their city proud that day and I'll be forever grateful to them for it.
One of the practicalities I worried about was bringing the pregnancy remains home. I appreciate this is only an issue for women with a similar diagnosis to ours, and that it might not be for everyone so sincere apologies if this upsets anyone.
The lady at the clinic had mentioned they would package it all up for travel but that she was unsure whether we would need to make a declaration to customs given that we were flying home. Either way it would have to be transported as checked in luggage (this part is definitely correct). This would obviously not be an issue if you were taking the ferry home.
I scoured the customs regulations and could find nothing to say we needed to declare our little package (it's labelled as Category B Biological Substances for anyone who wants to check it out more formally). I would have found it too hard to declare anything just for the sake of clarifying the rules so we just went through the green channel and there was no problem at all from the time we checked in our bag to the time of getting out of the airport with bag in tow and heaving a sigh of relief.
If anyone has more formal confirmation that we did the right thing here I'm sure it would help others to know, but I just wanted to post my experience to reassure those who wish to bring remains home but may not have the option of coming home by ferry.
The final thing I wanted to add is sensitive and regarding the contents of the package and its layers, so apologies and please don't read this bit if you'd find that upsetting-
the cardboard box/package contains a white but sort of semi-opaque plastic container surrounded by bubble wrap. It doesn't look biodegradable. The pregnancy contents are directly within that plastic container so please take care not to open even the cardboard box if you don't want to see anything. It's not totally see-through as I say but it's definitely not completely opaque. I imagine a funeral director would sort everything or maybe there's someone who could help if you wanted to have everything biodegradable but, like I say, just take care if you'd rather not see anything. Sorry for even mentioning this but I would have liked to know this in advance, though I'm not particularly sensitive.
Hope this all helps someone. x