Hi Molly,

This is definitely part of the process. When I met Shel I was sure I wanted a known donor, only because I knew someone who would donate. You really need to talk to each other, Shel and I talked about known vs unknown, clinic vs home, how we both felt about it.

Shel's concerns about known were that we wanted to do this together, and she worried about her role and her place if there were already two parents, and two birth parents at that.

We also had to decide WHO was going to get pregnant, I assumed it would be me, but Shel went through a few weeks of wondering if maybe she'd like to be pregnant first. She is older than I am, so we had to discuss that possibility, in the end she decided she didn't want to be pregnant (and after the birth she was quite sure she had made the right decision PMSL!).

You'll have to come to a decision that you BOTH agree with. respect that she might be worried about her place. All the reassurances in the world aren't going to mean much if her she is worried about what happens if something happens to you? So you need to address all her fears regarding a known donor, possibly put in place an parenting agreement with the terms of the agreement. Even though this can be challenged in court, it is taken into consideration when the courts are placing your child into someones care, should something even happen to you.

Hope this isn't too rambley, its 6.40am here lol.