Thanks to Choice Moms sponsor Sepal Reproductive Devices, which offers products and insight for women using home insemination, for these guidelines on working with a known donor.

It's the nurses who often provide the most important relationship for a woman trying to conceive, because every appointment to the doctor begins or ends with a nurse's check-up of your emotional, physical and mental health. Here is a list compiled by nurses at Laurel Fertility Care (San Francisco) for Choice Moms, about what they encourage women to understand before agreeing to any treatments.

Our lovely gathering of women at the Choice Mom networking event in July 2010 featured expert insights and stories from women in all stages of the journey. As a sampler, of what will become a more robust local guide on this website, here are a few of the tips from the event program.

My favorite part of Choice Mom networking events this year is our opening large group discussion, when we talk together from all stages about the issues and concerns we have faced. In the DC event, we had several Thinkers who wanted to know how women moved comfortably into the Trying stage. The question being, "How did you get to yes?" In response, Tryers and Moms reported:

At the Choice Moms networking event in D.C., Birthing Hands doula Claudia Booker offered many great tips for women about how to build a support network. She reiterated the importance of preparing for this well before the baby arrives. Some of her suggestions:

Whether you are inseminating at home, or with a doctor's care, here are 7 tips to help enhance your fertility, thanks to Dr. Lee Kao of Choice Mom sponsor Laurel Fertility Care:

It is more important to start your donor search with selection of the right sperm bank, before identifying donor characteristics. Arm yourself with this checklist of questions to begin the process.

Stress is natural. No matter how much we might put into place to avoid it, stress comes -- daily. According to Caylie See, of Acupuncture Kitchen (San Francisco), "It’s important to focus not only on what causes us stress, but on how we deal with it." Here are her seven tips, courtesy of her affiliation with Choice Mom sponsor Laurel Fertility Care.

If you need to get creative about finding ways to pay for fertility treatments, here are a few tips from Choice Mom-friendly Laurel Fertility Care (San Fran):

Some Choice Moms embark on this journey because they have high-powered, high-income jobs and can afford to build a family on their own. Others don't earn that much. For those who are trying to pay off debt and keep on top of bills in order to balance single motherhood, here are more tips from author Kara Stefan, author of "Head of Household: Money Management for Single Parents."

In this week's tips from Choice Mom sponsor Laurel Fertility Center (San Francisco) we discuss the importance, and methods, of building a fertility support team for yourself.

It is important for a sleep-deprived mother to know where things are. Because when you and baby are struggling to keep nights and days straight, the last thing you need is to find out at midnight that you are out of baby Tylenol or wipes. And keeping the diaper bag packed with everything you need for three hours of errands is easier when you haven't just spent half hour looking for your keys.

At the San Francisco event, organizational specialist Kim Guay of A Clear Vision Organizing offered these tips for getting ready for parenthood.

May is "Money Matters" month on the website. This month we'll take a look at what we're learning and sharing, from each other and from experts, about financial matters. Starting with this week's Choice Mom query: As parents who might expect more help from our kids, but with one paycheck, how do we handle allowances?

I admit that the idea of 'living in the moment' can sometimes seem laughable to a Choice Mom, who is so busy juggling day-to-day responsibilities that no moment seems to last long enough to live on.

When we are trying to conceive, or keep up with our children, we often take a closer look at how to improve our health and vitality. Here are tips from Natural Health and Fertility Center, as offered at the first-ever Choice Moms Expo in Minneapolis.

Interestingly, the most popular conversation circle at my upcoming Choice Mom Expo in Minneapolis is "Taming tantrums: yours and child," with parenting educator Denise Konen. Even 11 years into parenting, I didn't realize how important this topic is to our motherhood community. Here's one of the suggestions Denise has.

Choice Moms Expo sponsor Joan Gilles, of Ameriprise Financial Planning, offered this important tip about disability insurance. Admittedly, this is a form of insurance I hadn't given much thought to. But as single parents, there are a LOT of ways we need to be smart about protecting our assets, and this is one we need to understand.

I'm into week #2 of my attempt to live an organized life. And, I have to admit, being conscious of being organized makes you quite aware of how unorganized life is. But I think that's a GOOD step. Here's what I've learned about the stresses of single motherhood this week.

I have two primary stresses in my life. NOT my kids. But, 1) the continuous feeling that I can't get everything done that needs my attention, and 2) the fact that my large house takes more money and energy than I'm willing to invest. So I called in professional organizer Kathy Franzen, of Project Partners Organizing, who was a single mother of four for most of their childhood. Here's what I learned in one intense two-hour session.

A woman wrote to say that her friends were sharing the news of her Choice pregnancy with others, including the fact that she conceived with an anonymous sperm donor, even though she asked them not to. She turned to the community to get advice.

It can seem off-putting when your fertility doctor asks you to do a psychological evaluation before embarking on Choice Motherhood. But it's common at many clinics.

A childcare provider who is on the Choice Mom journey offers these tips in finding the right caregiver:

If you are using a known donor, you need to protect yourself emotionally as well as physically. Here are some tips:

One typical question asked on the Choice Mom discussion board is, what do I need to have on hand for my newborn? The responses have been numerous over time, so there are two compilations on this website about product recommendations from the Choice Mom community. This page is actual brand suggestions of certain products and tips that were recommended by Choice Moms. Below are the responses many Choice Moms have made about what was essential, and what was not, for their newborn.

Doria is a Choice Mom, midwife and lactation consultant. She offers this Top 10 list for breastfeeding success:

These methods have helped us get through the agonizing two week wait process:

If you are considering building a transracial family, ask yourself these questions (as prepared by Children's Home Society and Family Services):

submitted by Kenzie
Even before I made the choice to conceive with a known donor, I knew that however I conceived I would be doing it myself with as little medical intervention as possible. After all, it's my body, my fertility, and in the end I'm creating my family. It feels very important to me to take responsibility for and to understand the process, as well as the result.

A common concern of Choice Moms-in-the-making is how the success rate differs when using fresh and frozen sperm. Do you diminish your chances of success when using frozen sperm? I asked two experts, with two perspectives, about their thoughts.

If you are purchasing frozen sperm, how can you be assured of getting the sperm count you need in post-thaw for the best chance at success? Sperm banks are not regulated, so no one but the bank itself is checking their quality control. Some women report that their doctor tests a sample of the sperm before insemination to be sure it has a good count. If the doctor's testing methods are accurate, this can help.

Here's what Choice Moms have to say about breast milk pumps: