How to start home insemination proccess?

[cj2434]

Hi! This is my first post here so get ready for a million questions

I’m finally ready for start my journey to motherhood and I’ve decided that my most preferred route is home insemination via donor sperm. After weeks of looking, I’ve finally found my match, however, where do I even start?

Ive spoken to two fertility clinics and neither facilitate home insemination. Do I have to contact my GP, and have it sent to them after their approval? (the website I’m using requires physician approval). I’m assuming they can’t just send it to my house haha. I’ve read so many conflicting reports and unclear answers in terms of the very first step to take.

Also, with home insemination, are your required to have a lot of medical testing beforehand? I would prefer to have as little clinical interference as possible until I’m actually pregnant.

I would just love to know the first steps to starting this journey and what to expect in the initial stages. Thanks so much!

If you are buying donor sperm it needs to be sent to a licensed clinic. You cannot have it sent to your home or GP.

Also , I am not aware of any clinics that would allow home insemination. It would be done in the clinic. And yes you would need some tests first.

As pp note, there is no way to do home insemination using sperm from a sperm bank anymore in the UK (even international sperm banks can't legally sell it to you for home use, physician/GP approved or not).

However people have mentioned on here using National Fertility Society in Shrewsbury, who work with an overseas sperm bank I think. You would have to order the sample to NFS and travel there for self-treatment in a private room - but that could be a (slightly cheaper) option if you don't want to go down the standard route of IUI at at clinic?

To echo what others have said, no, you can't use storm from a sperm bank for home insemination if you're in the UK. This used to be a possibility but isn't anymore.

I would also say that in terms of success rates, your chances are likely to be much higher going via a clinic anyway. It's difficult to find information on this but I found an analysis from a sperm bank in the US where home insemination is an option, and their patients had much higher success rates with iui than home insemination: www.thespermbankofca.org/content/insemination-methods-outcomes - given that most of the cost of an iui is the sperm cost anyway, there's a strong financial argument for going via a clinic even if you happen to live somewhere outside the UK where home insemination is an option.

I'd also always recommend getting basic tests done before doing anything else. Checking that your ovulating, checking your fallopian tubes are clear, etc. Think how much it would suck to spend lots of time and money on trying to conceive, all the while not knowing that there's some issue that could have been identified and adjusted for straight away by a clinic. I get the impetus to do things without interference, but I do think there's a strong argument for a little medical involvement!