Conception Cup Success Stories?

[HennyPenny27]

Hiya, has anyone had any success getting pregnant with Conception Cups? I’m 38 and just started TTC for the first time (cycle 2). I wondered if this could be good to use after BD’ing, in particular, to catch additional sperm.
Keen to hear thoughts and experiences :) Thanks!

I did try soft disc because people said they were the easiest to use… I tried a few times to see if I could use it; just couldn’t get it in the right place! I have a tilted cervix so not sure if that makes a difference.

I know some people have used fertilily with success.

Ok I’ll give it a go. Good to know that it’s not necessarily a one size fits all solution if it doesn’t work for me

Honestly the physics of it don't make sense. Sperm has to be shot with some force to get through the cervix and in doing this some huge number already get through, bathing the cervix in a bit extra (or lying with your legs in the air!) is unlikely to make any difference at all.

With conception generally the issue is not sperm getting to the egg. This is highly likely to happen unless your DH has some motility issues (not that likely). The issue is that in about 80% of cases the body rejects the fertilised egg before it even implants, because either the egg or sperm is too low quality. Increasing the amount of sperm getting to the egg doesn't help, paying attention to yours/DH's diet, vitamin supplements and general health (exercise, sleep, stress, alcohol/smoking) in order to keep your sperm/eggs in good condition is more likely to help.

But in general, nothing at all to worry about if you are on cycle 2. You have about a 20% chance to conceive per cycle so the average amount of cycles it takes to get pregnant is about 4-5 but if you keep an idea of up to 8ish cycles in mind it helps, IME, if it doesn't happen straight away.

NHS do advise making an appointment with your GP to discuss TTC if you are over 36. I notice this seems to have replaced the old advice to try for 6 months and make an appointment if unsuccessful (it is still try for 12 months if 35 or under) so I don't know if they routinely run tests without expecting you to wait now, that would probably be worth finding out.

@BertieBotts Thanks, have you used one before? I’m keen to hear from those that have tried it and what the experience was like.

🤣shot through the cervix like it's a water gun and a target.
Yea sure some get through during ejaculation if he's in the right place, but mostly it's sort of around the cervix- it's not like a gaping hole 🤣
Also depends in how large the partner is/deep, and also the differences in vaginas to each individual.

So I have a diaphragm that I used to prevent pregnancy, but funnily enough actually what got me pregnant by using it as a "catcher and keeper" so to speak.
I'd say if you're not used to using cups for your period or a diaphragm for contraception I'd practice a little without the slippery stuff 😉
You need to make sure that you hook any disk you use behind the pelvis bone while you're up there.
There are also tons of people who I've read who have used menstrual cups instead of buying something in particular too.
What harm could it do!

No you're right, I haven't used one sorry. I thought you were looking for info about whether it was likely to increase the chances of pregnancy rather than personal experience.

PP is right it is unlikely to do any harm. But the water gun analogy really is how it works honestly! See if you can find "the great sperm race" - v weird and funny but informative educational programme by BBC I think

I didn’t use one of these but did use a sperm friendly lube called Preseed which seemed to help (got pregnant first month using it both times - though it might have been a coincidence I suppose!)

Indeed, I hadn’t heard of sperm being shot through and know not all men ejaculate with force. I also track the position of my cervix throughout my cycle and know some days it is angled and some days straight up - not sure DH can control finishing right in front of the hole, or that I want to get acrobatic with the BDing positions!
Ah I can image that must have been a surprise and that you don’t use a diaphragm as primary protection anymore?
Thank you for the heads up about practicing, I have used a diaphragm in the past and will do a few practice runs as suggested!

@ApoodlecalledPenny
Thanks for the advice, I’ve heard it’s quite helpful so will give it a shot too!

@BertieBotts Not to worry, the info you provided was useful - I’m on info overload atm and just wanted advice on physical use of the cups, but understand they’re not for everyone

Sorry should have clarified, I specifically used it ttc.

Always forgot to put it in with prevention, kind of kills the mood worse than a condom 😅
Helps that he worked abroad for months at a time so that was all the prevention we needed at the time

Yep used it religiously and it worked for us x

Oh I see, makes good sense and use of the thing - Glad it worked well for you both with partners job commitments 💚
And hehehe yes it’s deffo not the sexiest application in the heat of the moment 😂

That’s great @AutumnVi, if you don’t mind me asking - how many cycles did you use it for? Did you use it from the start?

I picked one up today so will see how it goes!

Fell pregnant accidentally (just came off pill and wasn’t charting my fertility) ended in mc

used cup the second time we tried got pregnant first cycle ended in mc

used cup the third time and we got pregnant second cycle ….baby due in August 🥰

To caveat I have stage 4 endometriosis and lupus hence the miscarriages.

really I shouldn’t be able to get pregnant naturally but I really believe the cup helped x

Wow congratulations 🥳 that’s wonderful news!x
And after the MCs which cannot have been easy.

Just to update - Happy to share that I’ve gotten my BFP this morning 😲🥰. In disbelief but will continue to test until AF due on Sunday! I’m about 12-14DPO (tracked cervical positioning and EWCM, so not super sure of DPO. Decided to test as had extreme fatigue yesterday - could not bear to stand up or eat!

Congratulations 🥳 did you use the cup?

Congratulations!
Yes now you'll have to let us know if it was down to the cup or not 😉

Thanks @AutumnVi & @Echomama xxx
So this was cycle 2 for us and I did use the cup this full cycle. I’d say the cup played a role, but hard to prove this as it was only the second cycle.
Other things could have kicked in, such as Conception vitamins that we’d both started taking 3 month prior and I’d also started going to the gym this month to get the blood pumping.
I will however give the cup the credit it is due, as it did its job and gave me a sense of control, where I needed one!