Hello everyone and thank you for at least taking the time to read this far into or story..

Me and my wife, Alix have been trying to start our family for the past year now with no success. I unfortunately am undergoing fertility assessments to rule out the possibility of infertility on my part as the donor we were using has had multiple children of their own in the past. Another misfortune on our part is that our reliable donor has moved away and is no longer able to donate to us. You'd think getting a replacement donor would be easy, but you're wrong. The many hoops you have to jump through to get someone even semi reliable is a nightmare.. finding someone who is physically similar, willing to donated by Artificial Insemination (AI) only, because believe it or not even being in a lesbian relationship there are still people who are only willing to donate by Natural Insemination (NI) means, not only does this go against who we are but shows that people have no concept of marriage, faithfulness and respect to others. Finding donors willing to show you proof of a clear STI check and agreeing have a no contact agreement can also be a challenge.

So far we have tried to find a replacement for our donor only to be let down 3 times and it is heart breaking especially when I am on the last step of my fertility assessment and the possibility of being put onto the fertility drug Clomid/Clomifen. But without a donor there will be no point to any of that. We are unable to get funding on the NHS for any type of IVF (IUI or IVF) due to Alix having an 8 year old son from a previous relationship, although he lives with his other mother over 150miles from us and we see him only during school holidays. We feel that we are being penalised, as so many other couples are by our local CCG Stoke on Trent, who consider the fact that there is already a child in existence a justifiable cause for refusal. Regardless of the fact that the NICE (National Institute for Health Care and Excellence) guidelines state that all people undergoing fertility treatments should be offered up to 3 cycles of IVF. Areas such as Scotland, Manchester and Durham adhere to these guidelines but many like I said will not let you have treatment if one party has a child even if they never see them. It is de moralising to be told that one of the only ways you could have children has been taken away from you.

And that is what has led us to ask you, our friends and family and the general public to help us have our family, the one thing we truly would love to have. We are in a loving caring relationship and just want the opportunity to share that love with a little bundle of joy of our very own.

Thank you if you made it all the way to the end. We would appreciate any help you can give.