Hey everyone - nice to read all about you here! I have stumbled across this fabulous forum a bit too late I think...my partner (of five years) Tracey is due on February 23 and it would have been great to have met you all a little earlier in our pregnancy.
We were extremely blessed and so, so lucky to get pregant first go through IVF with unknown donor sperm from America - we were told there's a shortage in Aust. We must have some brilliant guardian angles watching over us because our good fortune has continued to allow Trace a smooth pregnancy with no dramas at all. We are having a boy (well, we think - can't be 100% certain until the day!) and we want to call him Jay.
Interesting to read about some of the negative stuff some of you have come up against - has been similar for us to an extent, with Trace's family (her Dad hasn't spoken to her for a few years since the news...)
But we are just concentrating on being happy and trying to get prepared for this major hurricane of change that's about to whirl into our lives!
We too are looking at parenting orders and getting our wills sorted properly, so any more info out there about that would be appreciated. As far as I have found out, it costs about $180 to lodge the parenting orders w the Family Court and then another $180 for the bio mother to "accept" them (we are in Qld). And apparently, if you are going with an anonymous donor, and can prove such to the court, then the "father" does not have to be tracked down and notified about the orders - that's a relatively new law apparently.
Anyway, nice to meet you all and we look forward to hearing more of your stories!
Good luck, hang in there and stay positive!