Went to see counsellor last week

Wow I can't believe almost three weeks have gone by without my posting on here. I do have news to report. Last Thursday I went to see the counsellor recommended by my clinic, ACU. She was a temporary one as their regular one was on holiday. She was very emphatic that she was an independent counsellor rather than one pushing the clinic's point of view. I was nervous as I was expecting someone to be confrontational (in a way meant to challenge me and think about my answers) and play devils advocate - I imagined someone wagging their finger at me and saying "DON'T YOU THINK YOUR CHILD DESERVES A FATHER!?" but she could not have been anything less like that.

I have been thinking this through for a while now so I don't think there was anything major I had not thought of. However there was some food for thought:

• In choosing my clinic, I just Googled the phrase I thought appropriate, and chose the clinic I thought sounded most reputable. I did not know there was a government-issued guidebook to fertility clinics. I have ordered my free one from the HFEA here. I should look up the live birth rates (not pregnancy rates as they are not indicative) and compare the clinics. Seems like there are more of them than I thought.
  
• National Infertility Day looks like a useful day to go on (although hopefully - I am not infertile!)
• I am really quite foggy about the tests the clinic are going to do on me after I have done the blood tests at my GP. I did expect to receive some literature on this when I visited the clinic for my initial consultation, but was not given anything that I had not already received in the post. I know its something like checking my tubes are not blocked, and maybe xraying my uterus, but that's about it. I should call up the clinic and ask for further explanations.
• Going to a sperm bank in the US should not be an option as they don't have donor anonymity laws - my child would never be able to find out the identity of their father, if they chose to. I must admit I had not thought this option through this far.

I seemed to have passed the "test", if there was one. I do wonder if clinics check customers backgrounds at all. I mean - I'm sure I give the impression that I'm a normal and stable person, and I say that I'm a home-owner, with a supportive family. But how do they know that? How do they know that I'm not some fantasist living in some shared rented house with a family who has no idea what I'm up to? I think they should somehow check these things out before agreeing to giving me treatment.

Other news - Emily at the Donor Conception Network has been sending me a lot of useful-looking links and info. I have been a bit slack recently and haven't looked at them all properly.

My Dad said at the weekend about a childhood friend (and exact contemporary) of mine that her father (who he knows) is looking forward to becoming a grandfather for the first time - "after all this time". Not sure if he realised he said that - I did not react.