# How long do sperm live in the uterus after IUI - scientific studies?



## rainbows44 (Oct 12, 2018)

Hello all

I've read this study https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2582119/

which says "In conclusion, the results of the current study suggests that monitoring of follicular rupture prior to IUI provides a pregnancy rate similar to natural fecundity. According to the results of this study it is suggested that IUI should be withheld until follicular rupture is detected."

That means you have to OVULATE BEFORE they give you the sperm in your uterus for IUI. Any earlier and it is wasted. It doesn't live for 2-5 days in the uterus only in the cervical mucous

But my IVF clinic gave me an IUI insemination 2 days before I ovulated! saying it was in the 3-day window

this is a rip off, there's no chance it can work, according to that study, also according to a number of US clinics who have posted on it.

eg here: https://www.acfs2000.com/intrauterine-insemination-iui.html
"Sperm, on the other hand, can live in the cervical mucus for an average of 3-4 days and from there travel up to the fallopian tube. It is estimated that sperm put in the uterus travels through it within 4-6 hours and afterwards it is all gone."

Has anybody got links to any other scientific studies that explicitly state how long the sperm last in the uterus? Just so i have extra studies to take in to my next appointment so I can make sure they monitor my follicles for rupture before insemination next time?


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## Me Myself and I (Dec 30, 2012)

I have no longer got the studies. But to complicate things further, fresh sperm May live that long but the lifespan of defrosted sperm is between 6-12 hours according to many studies which adds a further complication. Hence you can see why multiple inseminations can be more effective. 

Are you having iui in your forties?


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## mollymartha (Jan 6, 2019)

hello ont mind me joining this post im 36 but have had 3 natural cycle iuis when I was still 35 though I had several worries over my trigger shot timings and how long do sperm live worries every time, for some reason my clinic do iui24 hours after trigger shot, I researched it literally so many times and trailed the internet for hours and hours 24 hours after trigger always seemed so early?  I read most clinics use the 36 hours later timing , by my 3rd iui I was meant to go up to the main clinic for it on a Friday, but hey were fully booked well at first they said they had 2 slots that day my base clinic rang the main procedure clinic and then straight away those 2 slots for the Friday had vanished, I had an 18mm dominant follicle on the Wednesday they gave me the only option of triggering at the clinic just 19 hours before the iui!! or wait til the  Saturday pay for 2 more scans myself to check the follicle wa still there and try that! I had nochoice but to go up o the Thursday I was so upset and stressed by it all as the 3rd one was my best  lining and best chance I asked the clinic if I could wait as long as possible which they did leaveme til last that day as I had to be sedated for it too the nurse at my base clinic said don't worry sperm " live a few days you will be fine" again I knew this to be the case for fresh sperm but did again a lot of reading  online and it said 6-12 hours max for washed frozen sperm which  I was using, iasked the dr on the day  of iui how long do they live for in my case she wouldn't look me in the eye but confirmed " in the female reproductive tract we would  say 6 hours" I as gutted to hear that! the iui timings were so wrong  for me, I knew it she knew it, if the sperm only live 6 hours and I didnt ovulate until 36 hours later they did the iui 22 hours after trigger shot my timings were way out! I only  had a tiny chance anyway at best anyway I admit that but you pay all that money and I still felt that tiny chance was taken away I couldntg even adjust my trigger shot timings at home myself and do them 36 hours before  at home as the second and third iuis I had to get the trigger shot there and then at the clinic! all in all timings wise not a good experience for me and I really regret the timings of them all x


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## rainbows44 (Oct 12, 2018)

thanks for replying mollymartha and Me Myself and I (yes i am 45 and had one cycle of IUI as a break from ICSI)

I think the clinics are ripping us off. They know they only have a six hour window but they are not going to monitor us for ovulation (too resource intensive)

So they are going to inseminate with a bigger 36-hour window, have a crappy 1% success rate for women over 40 and then just tell us that is the average with IUI so upsell us to the much more expensive IVF and ICSI.

they are getting away with it by saying that's the benchmark success rate everyone gets - and blame it on the old eggs.

Well it isn't. It's because the frozen sperm are dead or gone after 6 hours and are not even contacting the egg.

They don't care because there's no metric to judge their success by and the only benchmark they have is so low that it doesn't matter if they fail every time.

But what we need is scientific studies that state exactly how long the sperm last in the tract.

That paper I linked to here: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2582119/

is published by the Journal of Assisted Reproduction and Genetics -- an official journal of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. It's peer-reviewed and has a huge list of editors.

I doubt very much they would let a basic error be published without correction

But we need a few studies -then we can ask for a refund / compensation, and demand proper treatment

it's better for us to even pay double if it is done properly but right now these cowboys are just lying to us it seems. Because i only had that one paper (nobody has linked to or named any others yet) , when i took it into my doctor he just rubbished it, said it was just words on a page. No, it's peer-reviewed so I don't think so - but then if he admits its right what does that mean? It means he did the wrong thing. No doctor wants to admit that. So we need some studies that clearly define how long sperm last in there so we can get proper treatment.

I asked my dr point blank how long the washed, thawed sperm last in the uterus/fallopian tubes where they can fertilise the egg. He wouldn't/couldn't say. Well -- how can he be a fertility expert and not know this very basic fact? If the sperm don't contact the egg there can't be any fertilisation. They do know but they dodge the question.


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## Delectable_Sunshine (Jun 6, 2016)

Very interesting and useful info here. I recently chatted with a lady about 44 who did 2 successful IUIs 43 and 42. She also said IUI was better but only if they knew not to deposit the sperm too early.


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## miamiamo (Aug 9, 2015)

thanks for sharing. Each case is individual, and a clinic might have their own "scheme" based on their experience. Unfortunately, treatment of invertility requires a lot of expertise, and you never know who is right, and who is wrong.


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