Monday, November 17, 2008

I made the call

so now I can check off two things from yesterday's list.

The midwife seemed really nice and just had a baby a few months ago using a known donor. I was expecting more answers and experience about how the whole process works and what to expect. I was hoping that she would be someone who knew the ropes and could provide direction on how to navigate the process. Not so much. The impression I got after 20 minutes on the phone was that this would be the complete opposite of using the big fancy by the book clinic. I was hoping for something more in the middle. She didn't seem to have too much knowledge around using sperm banks and isn't sure if her signature would be good enough to release the goods from the bank since she doesn't work under a doctor. She also isn't sure if her documenting tries will be good enough for an insurance company if I need to get more aggressive after 6 attempts. She just hasn't had to do it for anyone yet.

So, my next steps are to decide on a bank and a donor then find out if the midwife's signature is good enough to release the swimmers.

Make an appt with fancy clinic since they are booking a few months out and if I have to get more aggressive then I have a head start at getting in the door. If I don't end up needing them I can always cancel.

2 comments:

Pepper said...

Progress is good!

Regarding whether the bank will ship to the midwife's office, there may be some paperwork that the bank require the midwife to complete in order to register.

Also, it can't hurt to call your insurance company to see what kind of documentation they'll require in order to consider your treatment at the midwife's office. Ask them to send you a copy of your insurance policy pertaining to infertility. If that doesn't answer your question, then ask for an opinion on whether or not your treatment there will qualify you for benefits. (Can you tell that I've haggled with my insurance company?)

Sounds like you're well on your way!

Jo said...

Yea, I get the feeling that the midwives willing to do this off the grid are kind of renegades by nature...so you might have trouble using her if you need lots of documentation. Let's hope she can register with the bank and that it will work for you. Good advice from pepper. It's just good to have more info in general so that you can move forward one way or the other. Congrats on calling! I haven't yet; I've been in a doubtful stage but once I snap out of it (which I will), I will call...