Does Artificial Insemination work ?

[jo1245]

Hi my name is Jo, & have been plucking up the courage to ask about this for some time. I'm in my late 30s & want to start a family. Unfortunately my DH has had ED for many years, this wouldn't normally be a problem as i'm really not keen on DTD. But do realize i do need to get some of my husbands semen deposited to the right spot when TTC. We gave up having intercourse 7-8 yrs ago, & would like to avoid re-starting if possible, so have decided to go down the self insemination path first. Just for the record, my DH is able to produce semen with careful MB, but this can take around 30-40+mins, So I think Artificial Insemination would be best route for us. I have read this back a couple of times & it does make me look like some Frigid old prude, but we are very much in love, i'm just not interested in sex.

Has anyone else done this ? & a few good honest tips would be nice.

Thanks Jo

[juneybean]

I was on a conception group on here a few years ago and some of the ladies were doing exactly that and they did fall pregnant! I'll see if I can get them to come along and share their stories...

[TTChomeinsemination]

Hi Jo,

I was really pleased to see your message. I'm in the same boat. My DH has ED so we've never really had a sex life but are very much in love and have great fun together in other parts of our life. (It feels embarrassing to talk to people about in real life). DH can masterbate given time and a bit of peace so we're trying home insemination in hope of starting family.

We had our first go yesterday - him by himself into glass jar (dry as apparently water damages sperm), he then held jar in armpit for ten mins for sperm to liquify then handed over to me. I sucked it up in to child's medicine syringe (which the chemist gave me for free when I asked if they stocked childrens medicine syringe's) and inserted. It went fairly well for a first time but my positioning wasn't quite right so a bit came out in the wrong direction.

Maybe we can share tips?

Good luck!

xx

[TTChomeinsemination]

Should have said - I've been tracking my ovulation with OneStep ovulation strips ( off amazon) for 3 months and have found that I ovulate very early in the month - If I'd been assuming ovulated around day 14 as all the literature says then I'd miss it every month! If you aren't having regular sex and so are having to invest time (and emotional energy!) in to insemination then I'd recommend getting the strips to ensure you chose the right days for insemination.

We are aiming to do every other day starting from 3 days before predicted ovulation (as sperm can survive in body for 3 -5 days but eggs just lasts short time) but to continue 3 days after predicted ovulation just in case the lh surge predicted by ovulation strip etc is incorrect. So probs 4 attempts over the course of a week.

xx

[OnNaturesCourse]

I dont have experience but i wanted to say good luck n im glad you've found somewhere you can talk about this! ❤ Are you practising keeping your hips raised after and staying lying down? Been told it helps the little guys get to where they are going/not escape! Xxx

[EMHW123]

I'm doing a similar thing, sometimes we can dtd normally sometimes only via mb so I collect the semen in a soft cup and insert it, lie with my hips raised and legs up..... fx for you all x

[Oysterbabe]

There was a lady on a thread I was on who was successful with it. It can certainly work.
Best of luck.

[TTChomeinsemination]

Thanks OnNaturesCourse - yes I'm staying still for 40 mins afterwards and keeping the syringe in during that time. I need to work on the positioning to keep hips up though! Pillows just didn't seem to work so I'm going to try yoga blocks! :-)

[voxnihili]

We're not at AI stage yet but just wanted to say hi to people who have partners with ED. I can't talk to anyone in RL about it but it is so soul destroying. DP isn't that into sex because of it, and knowing how much he wants a baby but still won't initiate anything hurts so much. I get so frustrated as I know when I'm ovulating (I suffer with severe ovulation pain) and he just won't even try. It's been 18 months of this. I feel so all over the place as have none of the excitement of TTC, yet feel like a fraud for feeling like we are an infertile couple.

[TTChomeinsemination]

Hi voxnihili, thanks for posting - I know just what you mean about feeling like a fraud re infertility. It's such a difficult thing to talk about as a couple and can feel like a betrayal to confide in someone else if your partner has ED (I spent several years getting increasingly depressed thinking there must be something wrong with me or the relationship). My friends are having babies and when they quiz why we aren't yet I just say something along the lines of we'd love to but it hasn't happened for us yet. Various people have asked how long we've been trying and why we haven't investigated if we can have IVF, adoption etc and I'm not going to tell share publicly that DH has ED and therefore no baby making so feel like a fraud with the persona of infertile couple even though we haven't got anywhere near finding that out. This is our first month trying AI and it felt amazing late last year to have a conversation of how we were going to take things forward and that this might be a good option for us. If you are able to talk to your partner about AI as a strategy then you might feel relieved that you have a possible option. With us it wasn't just one conversation it was several conversations over several months as we both got used to the idea - it's not how you plan to build a family initially so it takes some adjusting!

[voxnihili]

Thanks for your response. I've told people I don't want children as I don't want the pitying looks, and my response to people who think it is their business to find out the reason why is simply 'I just don't'. I have confided in 2 friends that we are struggling to conceive, but haven't told them why as it isn't my information to share. I feel so down about it and do wonder if some of it is because of me, and sometimes I wonder if I really want to sign myself up to a life of no sex. We tried again last night and got halfway through. DP feels terrible afterwards and I don't know what to say. I hold the tears in until he goes to sleep. I don't know how I'm going to suggest that he gets help - I said last night not to worry there's nothing we can do and he just agreed.

[user1487371341]

Hello, I am a success story! My second child was conceived via masturbation and a syringe (bought a bundle from Amazon as I didn't trust the Calpol syringes). I was 43.5 years old when I conceived through artificial insemination and it took four months. It was absolutely bloody brilliant: no pressure; no pretending to be enjoying the disheartening erectile dysfunction-driven sex; no sinking heart when the other half sadly tells you he can't face sex on your most fertile day.

I didn't even raise my hips after insemination; I was so convinced this primal method couldn't possibly produce a baby I didn't bother orgasming myself nor raising my hips - I didn't even lie flat for twenty minutes, I got up and watched telly downstairs like a normal person My partner didn't do any armpit stuff either, he simply brought me the cup of semen, I waited ten minutes for it to liquefy and then I shoved the syringe up my vagina as high as i would place a tampon and then depressed the plunger. Four months later I was pregnant. With only one fallopian tube (and guess what? When I went for my seven-week scan the nurse told me I had ovulated from the side where I have no fallopian tube, so the good tube had swung over to catch the egg!)

I gave birth to Ezra, my gorgeous little boy, last January when I was 44. Go forth and multiply with your cup of semen and your syringes, ladies...it works!

P.s..I've posted my pregnancy chart so you can see the days I inseminated. I hope it works..fertilityfriend.com/ttc/index.php?d=2015-04-29

[Mazzebtopham]

Thank you so much for these posts! They have so encouraged me. I am 43.5 and my husband and I have been trying with AI for 18 months. We have otherwise nothing wrong with us except the ED during sex. MD no problem. We haven't done the liquefy sperm thing and will do AI 3 days before ovulation now and after it too (every other day), just in case, following tips on here. Thank you for your encouragement to a couple who are dying for a baby!