# success rates of IUI?



## joeyrella (May 13, 2009)

i was wondering what people were told the success rates of medicated IUI are and whether they believe it?  we were told its generally around 10% but i have been on this thread for about six months now and think i have only seen two   (apologies if there are people i've overlooked!).  i know not everyone having IUI is a member of a forum like this so its not an exact poll, but i'm beginning to think the 10% rate is a wild over-exagerration.  just based on the success rates of people on this board i would guess its more like 1 or 2%.

maybe i'm just on an IUI downer at the moment


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## professor waffle (Apr 23, 2005)

It does vary from clinic to clinic but at mine it was between 15-20% but the average is 10%. I guess it also depends on what your PC offers as ours only offered IUI up until the last few years whereas some other PCT don't offer IUI at all. In private clinics possibly there is a tendancy to steer couple to IVF rather than try IUI as it's a higher success rate (so better for their figures) and there may be an element of cost/price involved too.

If you check out the BFP Bumps & babes thread on the IUI board there are def more than 2 BFP's out there.

x


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## joeyrella (May 13, 2009)

i have now checked out my clinic on the HFEA website and seen that the success rate for stimulated IUI is 10.9% which it says is consistent with the national average.
i guess it just doesn't feel like it with so many BFNs flying around at the moment.


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## Sue74 (Feb 26, 2009)

Hi Joeyrella

I'm a bit   at the success rates too, we went for our pre-conception visit yesterday and the nurse informed us that out of 90 patients only 3 got a  , she seemed to be saying IVF would give us a better chance of success.  we came away feeling so , now we have to decide what we're going to do, we always thought we'd do 3 IUI's then onto IVF.

 with your journey


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## kdb (Apr 9, 2009)

*
Hi Joeyrella... *well now you are one of the successes in the success rates! Congrats on your      

Thought I'd post anyway, for people reading in the future... at my clinic (large, predominantly NHS) the success rates for IUI are 10-15% per cycle and 30% across three cycles.

*Hello Sue!* Fancy seeing you here, LOL. I think a lot of people find themselves in a situation like yours. We did. Do we try 3 x IUI before moving to IVF? Or do we go straight to IVF because of the better success rates?

I did a *lot* of thinking about the two tx, and posted on various threads here asking IVFers whether they wished they'd skipped IUI altogether. Also had an appt with top cons at my clinic, hoping he would recommend one or the other for us - then the decision would be made for us, no more sleepless nights!

Unfortunately he didn't!! He said that, in our case (no MF issues, still a few years away from 40, my plumbing is all sound, just the pcos to overcome) it was totally up to us and boils down to how we feel... if we want to take a staged approach and try IUI a few times (max three although my PCT funds up to six), or if we are in a hurry then we could go straight to IVF.

Another cons I saw recently at a scan described IVF as "more proactive" and I like that description better than "in a hurry"! I guess IVF is so commonplace to them that it doesn't seem like a big deal, whereas it does for us. Also I think that tx research is focused more on IVF/ICSI and embryology than it is on any other tx, which is why the gap is widening between OI/IUI success rates and IVF. For clinics, the money is in IVF so that's the area they focus on improving the most. (my opinion, not scientifically founded!)

At the end of the day the stats speak for themselves... IVF offers better success rates but involves more time, more energy, more emotion, more risk. If you don't feel ready then maybe giving IUI 1-2 goes is worth it, while you become more comfortable with the idea of doing IVF.

Personally I would've liked the oppty to do 3 x IUI but for various reasons it wasn't to be.

Good luck with your decision!! PM me if you want to chat 

xoxo
kd


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## Sue74 (Feb 26, 2009)

Hi Joeyrella so sorry hun, I missed your    on your signature,    well done   what wonderful news.  Wishing you a happy and healthy pregnancy  .  Its great to hear another IUI success story    love suexxx

Hi Kd- thanks for replying you are so lovely hun   I'm so glad you popped on, you're always so good at explaining everything, you are such a fab FF'er.  We had our hearts set on 3 IUI cycles so it was a huge shock  when the nurse talked about IVF, we couldn't believe it. We've talked about nothing else since the appoint , we have the information session on the 25th March so will find out more then, guess we thought the consultant would make the final decision but maybe not.  Our hearts and head tell us to try the IUI first and you never know....

Not long now until your trip home, are you all packed hun, bet you're so excited .  Hope you have a wonderful time.  Will PM you

love suexxxx


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## kdb (Apr 9, 2009)

Thanks Sue   I would follow your heart / head!  If you did IVF and it didn't work, would you regret not having tried IUI?  (That's the way I look at things)

And by doing IUI you're not committing to doing three cycles - give it a whirl and see how it goes.  Didn't work out for me, but I've seen it work for others  

Don't rush into anything you're not feeling comfortable with  

xoxoxo

p.s. starting packing today... omg so much still to organise though, incl buying baby gifts for NZ friends lol x


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## Yuzhi (Feb 1, 2010)

Hi Girls,
Although my DH has been telling me to stay away from all the fertility threads as usually it brings my morale right down to the bottom after reading all the blogs. Well, I just couldn't help it!  My husband is very supportive on the baby trying thing, but I guess there is only so much he wants to hear about it per day, I think it would be useful to talk to people who are going through the same emotional rollercoast like us, to support each other, to understand each other better? I often read threads here and got feeling that people are awfully positive and courageous. But girls I am sorry, I think I am a "glass half full" kind of person. I feel like I will never ever be pregnant. (sorry, I am joy killer, ain't I?) 

I have just turned 33 in Feb 2010, DH 28, TTC since 2008, all the tests results were OK, except my cervical path to the uterus is a bit bendy (told from doc after stereoscopy diagnostic last week). We started first IUI in Jan 2010, because of this cervix issue, the doc thinks that he probably didn't manage to inject the sperms into the uterus. He told us that thanks to the stereoscopy (an intrauterus test using camera to visualise the path from your cervix to uterus), for the second IUI he will know what to do (where to aim) when comes to injecting the sperms, and he told us must not get discouraged for the low success rate on IUI. I guess it was his tone of voice that worried me, as he didn't sound very positive, I felt at the time that when he said that, even himself was not convinced by it. So we came home feeling really crap, spent a not so nice weekend at home. I was just hoping the doc could be a bit more positive or supportive,   

So now the golden question is should we continue the IUI journey or move onto IVF. For me, I was ready to be a parent since 2 years ago when we started, and until now I am willing to try anything in order to have a better odds. But my DH is a bit reluctant on moving onto IVF, because he thinks it is a bit too artificial, he would prefer that sperm and egg meet naturally, I know IUI is a big step for him already, although he has also agreed for the IVF this weekend, but I sense that it wasn't his true decision, he did it just to please me. So girls, I am feeling a bit down, as I feel like I have got to choose either IVF or my DH's will. I have a very close friend, she TTC 9 years ago for 5-6 years (now she is 50), after all the IVFs/ICISs and having spent tens thousands of pounds, she was finally told that it was no longer possible to have children. I saw her suffered like hell from this, and it took her ages to get used to the idea and be able to smile again. It was so HARD!! I just hope I won't have to go through this EVER, which explains why I want the treatment to go forward so badly, I just don't want to leave it too late.

Sorry girls for all the Bla bla, this month due to the stereoscopy, we didn't have IUI, I ovulated on time and we tried naturally. See how it goes! If BFN this month, we will go and talk to the doc, I think it will be the point to decide wheather continuing IUI or swap for IVF. I saw a lot of positive results of IVF here, couldn't help thinking that it could be our turn one day. 

Thanks for listening, wish you girls all the best of luck! And I will follow this thread as often as I can. Speak to you soon!


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