At home insemination with IUI straws?

[emina777]

I have been reading the posts and wanted to share my experience and get some advice.

I am starting a family through IUI at clinic (CRGH) and with donor sperm (Cryos Denmark). According to ORT test, I have no known fertility issues and young body despite my age (41). I am single and am doing it through IUI as I don't have partner. Never tried for baby until now.

I used the Ovulation Kits and as soon as LH surge turned positive, the doctor did the IUI procedure with MOT20 straw. Everything was by the book and I felt I was in good hands.

After the 2 week wait, my period was late, some mild pain in tummy and I got light spotting which stopped - which I took to be a possible pregnancy. I was disappointed when my period came full on today (about 2-3 days late) so the procedure did not work.

It was expensive procedure and I stress about the cost of doing it multiple times. If I had a partner, I am sure conceiving would not be an issue and it would me much cheaper as we could try as many times as we wanted. With IUI with donor sperm, it costs me at least £2K each try for the IUI and the sperm..

Since I am fertile, I am considering doing it myself at home to save on the costs. The straws that I can order are IUI-ready which I am told can be used for at home insemination..I have no idea how to do this..

Has anyone had any recent experience of At home Insemination with IUI straws? Someone posted 2 years ago that they bought the cheaper/lower MOT straws and inseminated themselves 2-3 times during ovulation period and worked. Not sure if it is still doable as Cryos ships to clinics only. Also I hear that with washed sperm, they are not great swimmers so I need to be accurate as to were to put them inside me...

I heard of other single lady-acquaintances who had their babies this way but I don't know how they did it and how they managed with the costs etc and I don't want to intrude on private matters.

I would appreciate any advice for single healthy woman ready to start family..

[Persipan]

Hello! Fellow single lady here (age 42). I have done home insemination in the past, so here are my thoughts:

• You can still get Cryos to ship to you at home.
• It's not all that much cheaper to do home insemination than to have IUI via a clinic. I was spending at least £1k per cycle when I used Cryos; probably closer to £1.5k most months.
• If you do try at home, you're better off using unwashed sperm rather than IUI ready; it lives a bit longer.
• You will still need incredibly good timing.
• Even with incredibly good timing, your odds per cycle will still be pretty horrible. Almost certainly worse than with IUI, which at 41 your odds there aren't great, either. Home insemination stats are hard to come by but there are some here which I see no reason why they wouldn't be relevant: www.thespermbankofca.org/content/insemination-methods-outcomes.

In the nicest, kindest way possible, having a 'young body' won't impact on your eggs. Sadly by the time we're in our 40s, the vast majority of our eggs are chromosomally abnormal and can't result in a successful pregnancy. I agree that if you had a partner, you'd have a decent chance of eventually conceiving but unfortunately for us singles, it's not that straightforward...

Full disclosure - I did get pregnant using Cryos sperm at home. Twice, actually. Unfortunately I miscarried both times. Also, I was several years younger than you at the time (38, I think). I stopped using them some time back because, although it's relatively low hassle and technically gives you a chance of pregnancy, I realised my odds had dropped to such a low level that I was just throwing money away.

Honestly, my advice would be to consider IVF. (Even fuller disclosure - I've had IVF too, both with my own eggs and now with donor eggs because frankly my eggs aren't going to get the job done at this point.) For what you'd spend on, say, three rounds of IUI or home insemination, you could have a cycle of IVF which would give you significantly better odds and also more information about what's going on for your fertility than its possible to get when doing IUI. So, it's definitely something to consider.

Good luck, whatever you decide to do!

[Missiem55]

Hi there,

I’d like to share my experience. I’m 39 (a few months off 40) single, endometriosis on my right side. I was told that IVF was really my only option.. I’ve been struggling for years to get enough money together to go for it. Sadly last year my mom passed away suddenly. In loosing her there became a little bit of money available in order for me to pursue IVF. I went and got checked out in February at Create Fertility. Everyone was lovely but the realisation of what I was facing whilst very much grieving, without my mom and with my life in pieces (plus facing being financially wiped out) I decided to just pause everything and reconsider my options.

A few years ago I tried home insemination from cryos.. it didn’t work, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that this route might still yeald something.

I did my homework and found another place called SellmerDiers. I liked their set up, all sperm is at least MOT20 and more ICI unwashed sperm was more available than Cryos (better for home Insem). Also instead of being sent 0.5ml your sent 1ml in two vials per order (I didn’t realise this at the time).

I ordered 2 vials with a donor who’s profile I could see, baby pictures, write up etc and who is happy to be a known donor. The order came in the tank (concealed by a cardboard box and not a big yellow space age tank).. it was very discreet (also, the company pre-book the shipment to be collected by UPS so no need to call or book for anyone to come and collect). Way less stressful. I have to say via this company it asks you to include a health care specialist but don’t worry if you don’t have one then for an additional fee they allocate you one- I think it’s so your answerable to someone and you need to let them know about whether it works or not..

Anyway, I tracked my ovulation, I’m different every month but I’m fully aware of my pains and twinges, moods and eating habits as well as checking Cervical M. I took some days off work and tried to monitor myself as well as I could but yes, still an element of stress ‘When do I go?’ In the end I went with my gut instinct and as soon as I could see two lines appearing on my ovulation strips I just went for it.. that’s when I found out my 2 vials was actually 4 (0.5 mls in each).. I spread these across 3 days (ironically I ovulated later than I thought I would and was back at work at this point but just had to do it).. Well, I’m now 2 weeks after ovulation and for 3 days I’ve had mild cramping.. yesterday I just felt like my period was going to start, it almost looked like it was going to but it didn’t. I’ve felt nauseous for 2 days and my head was splitting and my back killing.. I decided to do the pregnancy test I have just because I could and In doing so I saw a very faint line.. I absolutely freaked out (in a good way)... today I have done another test... and again another faint line.. I’m still not quite believing things so I’m going to try with tomorrow’s 1st urine and check again but all signs are pointing to the fact that this has worked x

[Kels91]

Hi @Missiem55
I've just come across this post hoping you are still active and that the line did in fact mean you are pregnant.
I have a question not sure if you know the answer, I am also looking at using sellmerdiers as my husband has had the snip. I contacted sellmerdiers a few days ago and they currently don't have anyone that they are able to provide as a healthcare professional, did you have your own healthcare professional or did you use this service through them directly. I have no idea who to ask. TIA

[MrsC2019]

I'm pleased I found this thread! Since cryos stopped delivering to home addresses I've been interested in ordering from Sellmerdiers. . It's cheaper than cryos but expensive when you've already paid for some fertility treatment. So before I spend more money it would be good to know if there have been any successes

@Kels91 did you place an order in the end? @Missiem55 I hope it has worked out for you.

[emilyesmc]

Just to bec lear, if you're doing things at home, the best you can do is cervical insemination. IUI means inserting the sperm into the uterus, and I cant imagine how anyone can get a pipette through the cervix on their own! So the sperm have to find their way through the cervix, up the uterus and into the fallopian tube all by themselves.