Is IUI worth it?

[kennetrose]

I have luteal phase defect which is a bit of a controversial area and the NHS don't treat - they've told me to keep trying until I get pregnant and/or become eligible for IVF. I also never have any EWCM, even when I search for it. My LP is naturally 7/8 days and I've just done my first medicated monitored cycle with a private clinic and successfully lengthened my LP with letrozole and two trigger shots. Unfortunately I'm not pregnant. Each monitored cycle at this clinic costs me £500. Because of my lack of CM, it makes me sceptical that the sperm are meeting the egg in the first place.

An IUI with the same clinic costs £1500. My doctor said we'd try three to four monitored cycles with TI then could move onto IUI. I'm wondering whether we should just try IUI now. It's minimally invasive and saves us spending up to £1500 on three more monitored cycles. But three IUIs would be £4500, which is half a private IVF cycle. And three monitored cycles followed by three IUI cycles would be £6000. And what if they don't work and we eventually get referred for IVF - it will all have been a waste of money we could be putting towards IVF...so should we keep doing medicated, monitored TI cycles then go to IVF? Should we skip to IUI?

If anyone has a crystal ball that will tell me how I'll get pregnant so I know which treatment to go for that'd be great! Failing that, if anyone has any thoughts on IUI and whether it's worth it I appreciate it. I know IUI isn't that common in the UK (and generally not done by the NHS) but it is in other countries. I feel like it might be a benefit in our case, but is it enough of a benefit to pay £1500 a cycle when we could just save the money for potential IVF...I don't know....

Hi @kennetrose I can't provide any insight into IUI but feel in a similar boat. So I'm interested to hear people's responses.

After all the fertility tests the only thing flagged from me and my OH was the length of my cycles and unconfirmed ovulation so I was put on Clomid for six months (no joy finished in April).

Our private clinic suggests we look into IUI but when we spoke with the NHS in Jan they wanted to go down the more medications routes if Clomid didn't work (we've been trying 2 years+). So I don't know whether to go back to private for IUI or persue with the NHS (next appointment due in June), who want to delay referring us for IVF as they don't class us as having an identified problem.

Hi, my situation is a bit different as in a same-sex couple, and I have no underlying ferility issues (31, normal AMH for age, normal weight, both tubes etc etc). We have to pay for 6 cycles privately before we become eligibly for NHS help.

We did 4 medicated IUI cycles with donor sperm, all unsuccessful before moving on to IVF. I have moments when I wish we'd done to IVF from the get go, but when we started, no one was to expect it wouldn't work, and it was a significantly cheaper option than IVF. It is also a lot easier going than an IVF cycle.

I would say that in our IUI cycles, its less invassive, so the clinic has less chance to 'learn' about your cycles (they get more information doing IVF) - we had no change to protocol across the 4 IUI cycles.

I would say to make sure you speak to them about drug costs if you'd be doing medicated IUI (I used letrozole, gonal-f and ovitrelle on my IUI cycles, in a light stimulation to increase to 2 follicules for each cycle) as that adds to your costs.

I would say you need to go in this with hope, but that no one will know what your outcome will be, and you just need to accept that if you start with IUI cycles and it doesn't work, you might ultiamtely then be looking at IVF.

A proper, open conversation beteen yourself and partners about what your willing/able to spend for treatment altogether is useful, to deicde how, when and to what extent of intervention you want to go for.

Good luck!

hi @kennetrose - you don't say how old you are or if you have any other issues such as MFI? We did one IUI (albeit in South Africa) when I was 39 and partner the same age. The only issue we had was a slightly low sperm count and it's true that the sperm sample that they use for the IUI is 'washed' which definitely increases the quality and count, so that's something to consider depending on your history.

We decided to try one IUI as a potential cost saver but when it didn't work and I did some more reading up on the success rates, it seemed as though IVF had a much higher chance of working for us - age was a bit factor though as by then I was 40!

I totally understand your predicament because the money is just such a worry either way, but I think it's generally accepted that unless you're pretty young, IVF has a higher success rate than IUI.

Hope you figure things out!

Thanks everyone!

@loulamay I’m 33. No MFI although my doctor said he’d like progressive motility to be a bit higher. I feel like the problem lies with me and I don’t know if I’m just not trusting not my body or if the sperm isn’t meeting the egg because my CM is useless. I think IUI is the only way to overcome that.

I feel like if we’re paying £500 a cycle then why not maximise our chances and go for IUI but then if we do that we might as well pay for IVF! But we’re not ready for IVF - we haven’t been trying a whole year yet, there’s just this short LP issue that we need to address that will hopefully give us the same chances as someone with a normal LP.

Ugh I just want a baby. Why is this so hard???

I just wanted to let you know that Vitamin B6 is known for helping with short literal phase. You take it striaght after ovulation. Best of luck!

@Bonster37 I’ve heard anecdotes but I’ve been taking it eight months along with vitamin C, the only thing that has made a dent so far is letrozole and a double hcg trigger :)

I just wanted to jump on this thread to tell you my story. I am 33 years old and am currently lying in bed watching my 6 month old son sleeping. He was conceived on our first round of IUI on the NHS. I don't ovulate on my own and had previously had 6 months of clomid ( which made me ovulate but I didn't fall pregnant). We were then offered 3 rounds of medicated IUI which we took despite the chance of it working only being 10-14%. We were extremely lucky and I count my blessings everyday. When I was going through this I couldn't find any active IUI threads so I'm happy to answer any questions if I can help (although I'm no expert!). So to answer your question @kennetrose for me, IUI was definitely worth it x

Thanks @DisneyGirl2387! How did you come to get IUI through the NHS? I thought they didn’t normally do it unless you physically can’t have sex. Glad it worked for you!

Having spoken about it last night, I think we might do another medicated cycle with TI then do two IUIs and see where we’re at.

@kennetrose
Yes they offered us 3 IUIs and then if unsuccessful 1 IVF. Maybe it depends where you live? We are based in the Midlands. Your plan sounds like a good idea!