Young lesbian couple thinking about motherhood

Hi, my partner and I have been together for 3 yrs (ages 22 and 23) and are keen on embracing motherhood in the near future. Next yr we are buying a house, and I believe that we are financialy stable enough to afford a child; our relationship is certainly strong enough. However, I am totally confused about the legalities surrounding IVF and lesbian parenting in Victoria, Australia. I'm hoping that somebody can shed some light on this topic for me.

Looking forward to chatting to ppl on this site.

Thankyou,

Nurse86:D

Hi and welcome!

I hope you can find out as much info as possible!

I can ask a family member of mine and see what she says!

Hi there and welcome to the site :welcome:.

Im not in a position to give any advice on this topic but watch out for Leasha, she and her partner are currently expecting and I know she has posted on similar issues, she might be able to help you.

Maybe contacting someone involved in family law could help? :dunno:

All the best, I look forward to following your ttc journey.

Hi there,
I'm a Victorian lesbian, currently 12 weeks pregnant. We conceived at home using fresh sperm from a known donor so managed to bypass all the ridiculous laws.

The good news for you is that the law in Victoria is going to change sometime this year to allow lesbians and single women to access reproductive technology including IUI & IVF. It won't, however, be available on Medicare. The not-so-good news is that there is a pretty serious shortage of donor sperm available though I hear that it's possible to import sperm from overseas - obviously though, that will cost more.

The other good news is that the law changes later this year will mean that both mothers can be included on the birth certificate which gives the non-bio mum all the legal protections that fathers have always had.

Overall, it's good news.

Good Luck!

I wasn't aware that the laws were changing so soon in Victoria, thats great news. For financial reasons, it would obviously be great if we could concieve using doner sperm at home, but if we had to I guess our next option would be IVF in somewhere like NSW, that allows same sex couples to use fertility services.

Im very happy that the laws re: non-birth mother's name being on birth certificate is changing; thats fantastic news :dance:

So if you dont mind me asking, how old are u and ur partner, and how long have u been together? Is this ur first pregnancy? was it difficult to concieve? Sorry bout all the questions, just keen on getting info on how others have concieved etc.....

My DP and I are 29 (me) and 27(DP). Our friends think we're really young to be having a baby but we've been together for 7 years and definitely think we're ready. We've realised that we're not going to be able to buy the kind of house we want (inner city, melb) in the next 5 years so we've come to terms to being renters for the intermediate future. I also don't think that money and mortgages have any bearing on the kind of parents you're capable of being.

We conceived with donor sperm after 6 cycles which we did over 9 months. At the time it felt like an eternity but realistically, we were perfectly average.

BTW - IVF isn't the default for lesbian conception unless you have recognised fertility issues. You'll likely try several rounds of IUI first which is much less traumatic and expensive.

Good luck with your decision.

i hope one day society will no longer question the capability of gay parents. i believe gay couples should be given equal rights as normal couples have..goodluck to all :)