LGBT Parenting
ttckansas
member
Options
Has anyone here used at-home artificial insemination successfully?
ttckansas
member
Hi,
I tried asking this question in the Trouble TTC forum and was told to "go away" so I am going to try here.
My husband and I have been trying to conceive for 9 months using at home artificial insemination. We are not using frozen sperm. A friend is donating. We tried 7 times using the syringe method and are now trying a Diva cup. Needless to say I am feeling the classic "when will it happen for me?" feelings.
Does anyone have any tips or I'd even love to read your success stories. We've done it pretty much by the book so far. I've been charting and our donor is living healthy. I am reclining after each insemination for at least a half hour etc. No fertility meds yet.
Mostly just looking for some solidarity. It's lonely out here!
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Has anyone here used at-home artificial insemination successfully?
There are a few women on here who have had success with at home insemination with fresh sperm, so hopefully they'll chime in.
Have you been using just OPKs or are you also charting BBT? I think the first thing I'd want to make sure of is that you are ovulating regularly, that your temps stay high until you get your period, and that your luteal phase is long enough.
We just had a consult the other day about at home insemination, and she said 6-12 cycles is what they recommend before evaluating for further issues. That seemed like a lot to me, and I feel like if you have 9 cycles that were well timed and charts that indicate everything is working normally, I'd probably want to see a doc for some basic tests to make sure everything checks out.
AMH 0.5, AFC 5-8, FSH 7ish
IVF #1 - antagonist. Empty follicle syndrome. 1 retrieved, 0 fertilized.
IVF #2 - antagonist. Ovulated early. 3 retrieved, 2 fertilized, 0 blasts
Hi! My husband and I are doing this too. I'm only on cycle 2, so I can't really offer much more advice than you probably already have. Just know that there are other people dealing with the same situation
We are not using donor, but MH has delayed ejaculation...a condition where he can only ejaculate certain ways on his own and it takes a VERY long time. Didn't mind it when we were TTA, but now it's an issue. This month, I used the syringe method every day, instead of EOD, used OPKs for the first time, and laid down for 20-30 minutes. I am about 2 DPO, so wish me luck lol. I have heard that the chances of becoming pregnant this way really do not differ that much from regular sex. If you are under 35, most doctors would say not to go to a RE until 12 cycles are up. With this method however, we are thinking around 8-9 months, maybe to get a SA done and discuss IUI.
Good luck to you and your husband! If it gives you piece of mind, I say go to the RE! Also, I've never posted on TTTC, because of my fear of exactly what happened to you. I think those ladies have various medical issues and have been trying for at least a year, in some cases many more. TTGP is a good board, and the ladies on here were VERY helpful a few weeks ago when I asked some questions
This is a friendly board.
We are trying our first home insemination SOON...I'm just waiting to be 100% I'm in my most fertile days. We are trying it with frozen donor sperm, but I will definitely post an update and let you know how it goes!
I've heard lots of people have success using preseed (sperm-friendly lubricant) and lying down with hips propped up on pillows for 20-30 min.
Let us know how it goes!
A few things I definitely recommend.
For any woman TTC, please read "Taking Charge of Your Fertility" from cover to cover. Seriously. You will learn a lot about exactly how to figure out when you are fertile. If you're not inseminating at the proper time in your cycle, you might as well be tossing the sperm out the window.
The companion to that is charting your cycles. You can use a free, online application called "Fertility Friend". If you chart your temperatures, your cervical position, and your cervical mucus, you can really pinpoint when you are fertile.
Regarding your donor - does he have any successful pregnancies under his belt? If not, you might consider a sperm analysis at some point. If he has sperm quality/count issues, he might not be a great choice for a donor.
Welcome! I echo what the previous posters mentioned--very helpful resources.
What kind of OPKs are you using? You might want to up the ante to the Clearblue Digital Fertility Monitor which goes the extra mile to track things. That said, charting and watching your body are essential for sure...but the tool could be helpful. That's what we used.
Good luck; feel free to ask questions as they come up:)
My partner and I are currently pregnant using this method. What we did, and sorry if this is too much for some, is we had our donor ejaculate into a small plastic Tupperware with lid and we used a 4cc oral syringe approximately 10 minutes later to inseminate. I propped my hips up on two pillows and my partner used the syringe so inseminate me. I stayed on my back for about 45 minutes, slightly rolling on my left and right side to coat my cervix.
I had charted my fertility using fertility friend. I took my temp each morning, I tracked my cervical mucous, and I licked a slide to check for ferning under a microscope. I did this for six months. Amazingly, we were successful on the first try. Now, my friend and her partner did this too. She got pregnant on the seventh try. Both of us are overweight, as well. Sometimes it takes overweight women a little longer.
Good luck on your journey!
I forgot to add that I did use opk sticks but I don't know how good they are. I looked at my charts after six months and we decided to aim for Two days before my expected ovulation and then one day post my expected ovulation as our "back up" to try to make sure we hit it. So we inseminated twice for the first cycle and 12 days later, I got a BFP on a First Response and then double checked the Clear Blue digital and who would have guessed, both positive. Now we're 19 weeks!
It's so hard, the waiting. I can imagine that I would be tearing hair out after seven cycles. Is having your donor's/spouse's sperm checked an option? Our first donor actually had no sperm due to being on high blood pressure medication for quite some time. We were shocked.
My partner and I were successful as well. We used a syringe and catheter the tip of which we placed into the opening of the cervix (not too far in because it's unwashed fresh sperm). We used raw egg whites beforehand as lubricant and a cervical cap (i.e. diva cup or similar to cup the cervix). Orgasm afterward is recommended by some. We used a head lamp and speculum as well in the procedure (sexy I know - but effective, 4 tries, 1 cycle). Tracked via OPK and BBT, among other fertility signs. The literature we read recommended start trying early, as soon as the first fertility signs start showing up, which we did - surprising around day 8 (if memory serves).
I wish you luck!!!
hi there
me and my wife havee successfully used artificial insemination abut with tthe help of a fertiity center....after nine mths of tryingto use at home kits we gave up...u have to know the exact ovulation date and u must be putting the catheter right at the opening of the cervix tht must be facing the opening of the vagina..which is very tricky to do if u have no medical experience...so with the kits ranginf from threefifty on up i think tht the fetility center would be a litttle more costly but definitely worth it...we did iui.good luck
I am happy to report that I am pregnant. After a year of trying absolutly everything accept ivf . My boyfriend had a visectomy when he was 25 years old so we found someone to give us sperm. We tried clomid , iui , then I was reading online about the soft cup method. We have been tracking my ovulation periods for a year now with kits so we know the date then we went to walgreens and bought (where they sell the tampons) a product called softcups. I have to say I was skeptical and ready to give up so I said what the hay and bought them. They are a little plastic cup with a rim that fits around your cervix. The only thing to worry about is spilling but I did it myself a couple of times and he helped me a couple of times. I ovulated on the 5th of october 2012 and today I went to the doctor and found out I am truly preggers! My last menstral was sept. 21-28 . We did it the 30,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 and no we didn't do it every other day. I checked the sperm under my microscope every dose for swimmers and they were always there. The donor simply did his business into a cup and with a syringe I sucked it up(less wasted) then squirted it into the softcup. Make sure the rim is facing up and I tried not to create too much of a pocket when I did it , but sometimes it can't be helped. Then I put my finger inside to find my cervix , sat at the edge of my bed legs spread and went for it. My boyfriend got the spectulum (the thing the doc uses to spread you for a pap) and checked to make sure there was still some sperm in there and it was sealed on tight. I was nervous but now I know that step was unessasary because you can follow the rim with your finger and know it is secure. I then would rub it on the cervix a little bit just to feel like it was pooled there and done. Then the fun part and I think the most important HAVE AN ORGASM ! Clitoral stimulation is best because the orgams is more intense but that will help your cervix actually suck in the sperm and help it on its way.It was a little easier when he did it for me just because of the angle but all you single girls can do it yourself I mean putting in the softcup or giving you the orgasm lol. I was on no drugs , I have a 6 year old son , I have had one abortion 5 years ago , I took one round of clomid 6 months ago, I have no reported problems with my uterus or anything, my BMI is pretty high 32 so either I beat all the odds of what I have read before or its all a croc cause I am here to tell you it can happen. I hope I didn't forget anything but in case you need to ask me something my email is
prissygirl30@gmail.com good luck everyone hope this helps someone.
This was after 2 cycles of ivf so he really is my little miracle.
Dont give up hope, it can and does work, the proof is sleeping soundly in his moses basket :x
We used frozen sperm as well and did everything you said, pre-seed and hips propped etc. We're day 3 after insemination... Is it just me, or are the days after insemination the longest days ever! Fingers crossed for all of you TTC!! Good Luck ladies!
Normal 0 false false false EN-US JA X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}
Hi,
I'm new here. (waves)
I wanted to let everyone know we used the Diva cup and I got preggers the first try. In the past we tried with a fertility clinic and used frozen sperm... we also tried the home insemination with a known donor (friend) with no luck. I read somewhere on the inet (for the life of me I can not remember the website!) But they were claiming they all used the Diva cup and it worked... I figured we had nothing to lose so we tried.
I started taking my prenatal vitamins to get my body ready and I also took another dose of Vitamin E (something I also read that helps) we met our donor... I gave him the Diva cup... he did his "thing". I inserted the cup after (I recommend that you practice putting it in before hand) I laid on my back - pillows under my hips and my partner grabbed onto my ankles and basically lifted me straight up in the air. Such a sight. lol. When I wasn't getting lifted up... I would rock back and forth ... lifting my own legs high in the air. We did that once a day for two days and I am now 4 months preggers. Yay.
It totally works! I stayed in that position for about a half hour or so. I also left the cup in for a couple hours per try... Seems a bit strange but I was ready to do whatever it took. During the hours I left the cup in I would return to the position and repeat.
I would 110% recommend the Diva cup. Good luck!
Hi,
My partner and I are currently fixing to use this exact same method. I have a donor lined up, I bought the online kit from Insemintationsupplies.com and goint first thing in the morning to get an ovulation kit. We are an openly lesbian couple and im unable to carry or become pregnant, and she volunteered to carry for me. I will most definitely keep you guys up to date and yall keep me the same. Prayers going up for all the mommies that want babies and are unable to. You will find a way.
I'm 33, hubby is 50, Second marriage.
I guess my silly question is.... where do you find a microscope?