Like many same-sex couples, Christine*, and her partner Janie*, went directly to a fertility clinic after deciding to start a family.

It was the only route they knew of, but the experience wasn’t anything like they had hoped. “For one, it was very clinical,” says Christine.

“For instance, during our one psychological therapy, the therapist didn’t ask about our family structure, or why we wanted to start a family. The focus was on what ‘name’ we were going to give our donor.”