# Self insemination



## notamuggle (Jan 15, 2013)

Hi Everyone,

It's Notamuggle here. I've not been on here for a long time as I had to limit my googling and internet use as I was becoming obsessed with all things fertility and it wasn't healthy. 

Although I've been away I have thought of you guys lots and if anyone remembers me please say hi.

So my question today is has anyone tried home insemination kits? Are they reliable?

I've now had 12 IUIs, 6 have worked but sadly I miscarried them all. 

I know IUI works well for me and I know my cycle pretty well so I wondered if it would be worth me trying at home.

Any thoughts?

I did a quick google but the companies that came up all looked a bit pony! 😁

Just had a BFN this morning from IUI number 12 snd trying to look forward now instead of being dragged down into the gloom

Big hugs xxx


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## Tincancat (Mar 19, 2012)

Hi Notamuggle 
I absolutely agree with Kittykat you need to get to the bottom of why you are miscarrying.  Do consider an appointment with Professor Brosens or Professor Quenby at Coventry.  They run an implantation clinic and can review your history then take an endometrial  biopsy.  The Professors are NHS consultants and run the implantation clinic as part of their research. . The cost will be a lot less than an IUI cycle for you. 
To go through so many miscarriages is traumatic do take a step back to look into what can be done to help avoid another one. 
TCCx


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## notamuggle (Jan 15, 2013)

Thanks so much ladies. I have had all the testing under the sun, even the expense killer cell testing, and everything has come back normal. I was even referred to the Tommys recurrent miscarriage research centre earlier this year but there's nothing else they can do for me and no trials suitable st the mo! 

The only thing left to do is the Coventry womb biopsy which I think I'll do next as I have to pick a new donor and order more 💦 Anyway! 

It's such an exhausting journey! 

Hugs to you both xxx


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## Tincancat (Mar 19, 2012)

Awh Notamuggle you are having a horrible time.  It's worth another opinion at Coventry then at least you have covered everything. There are ladies who have been successful with home insemination in the LGBS threads so might be worth asking about the kits there. 
TCCx


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## sunshine82 (Mar 14, 2013)

Hi Notamuggle,

Sorry to hear that you have had such bad luck, especially with the miscarriages, that must be heartbreaking.

I have had 6 unsuccessful attempts at IUI at a Danish clinic and the last 3 times I have been heartbroken every time I got my period because I'd managed to convince myself that I was pregnant.  The last couple of times I was too scared to take a pregnancy test on Day 14 because I was so sick of seeing a negative result, so I thought I'd wait as I'd have to deal with seeing the blood anyway if it hadn't worked.  So I waited and bled on day 15 one time and day 16 the next, but by then I'd really got my hopes up.  I can only imagine how heartbroken you must be to know that you were pregnant but to still lose the baby, as for me I've never gotten that far.

I too am wondering if it is worth me just buying the sperm and doing it myself, if avoiding the stress of travelling to Copenhagen (I loved it the first time I went but am so sick of going there now, especially with the terrible exchange rate, thanks Brexit) and maybe doing a double insemination would work.  I don't really know how to go about doing the home insemination though, like I really need someone to go through it with me step by step in lots of detail, lol.  I've read other threads but I still can't visualise how I'd go about it, so if anyone has done a step by step guide please let me know!  How do you order the sperm?  Where do they deliver it to?  What if they think you're not in and leave it with your neighbours!!!  How do you pay for it, will the bank know what you're paying for?  And then how do you actually do the insemination?  Is it easy or tricky?  How big are the syringes?  How do you stop it from leaking out the wrong way?  It hurts like a [email protected]#$ every time they do the IUI at the clinic.  If I buy the sperm that swims can I just try and get it in as far as possible and hope it will find its way?  I usually have lots of mucous and obviously putting it straight into my uterus hasn't helped me, I've just occasionally had a tiny bit of blood stained mucous come out 4-10 days after the insemination which made me get my hopes up that this was the implantation bleeding everyone talked about, as this doesn't happen to me normally.  Now I'm thinking this could just be due to the trauma of that plastic thing trying to get my uterus open.

I'm feeling incredibly disheartened at the moment, especially since I started trying at 32 (I'm nearly 35 now) and thought I'd be trying for a second baby by now.  I'm also wondering if I should just go for IVF, either in the UK or abroad, I don't know much about it though and the procedure sounds awful, a lot worse than IUI.  Not to mention the cost.  But if I had known that 6 attempts at IUI wouldn't work, maybe I would have gone straight to IVF instead of wasting the last of my early 30's investing financially and emotionally in something that obviously has very low success rates.  I was very naive and thought it would just work first time as I don't have any known issues.  I could have paid a lot of money for IVF at a clinic that has 48% success rates and have a baby by now!  I don't want to look back in 5 years and think, I wished I'd just gone for IVF at 35 when it had more chance of working!  I'm just finding it really hard to make a decision on what to do next.

It doesn't help that my GP can't help me with fertility tests.  I have no idea what my AMH is, for all I know all of my eggs are faulty.  All they did was a blood test measuring my estrogen and progesterone to see if I was ovulating.  I know that I am ovulating, I could have told them that for free!  I want to know why it's not working or why nothing is sticking!  I wish my GP could just prescribe Clomid or Progesterone or something to help it have more chance of working!  She says she can't do anything until she has my (non-existent) male partner's sperm sample and then she can refer me to the fertility unit and they can measure AMH and have a look at my tubes then.

Sorry for the rant, lol.  I wish you all the best going forward.  If anyone has any advice for me I would greatly appreciate it!


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## Wishings15 (Mar 27, 2015)

I don't know much about IUI, but I'd definitely look into NICE guidelines for fertility tests. I'm sure your doctor could do an AMH (I wouldn't do another round with it) also your could prescribe you progesterone (can't see the GP doing it)? 

Maybe you should go to home and then IVF. I was going to mention egg sharing it I think there's a cut of limit.

I'm sure someone will come along with some insite into IUI x


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## sunshine82 (Mar 14, 2013)

Thanks Wishings for the advice on the NICE guidelines, don't know why I didn't think to look there before.  I've had a read through and it says that for artificial insemination fresh sperm is better than frozen, but that IUI with frozen sperm is better than intracervical insemination, which is now making me rethink the idea of doing it myself.  I just wish it would work for once!!!  According to their figures I have been unlucky, as 6 cycles of IUI is enough for 63% of under 35's and for 50% of 35-40 year-olds.  I don't know whether I should just have another 6 tries and hope that one of them will work, or go for IVF and pay a load of money for private fertility investigations.

I see that IVF has finally worked for you!  Congratulations!  Where did you have your treatment?


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

That is a video about how to manage the container for ds from a bank.





This shows about handling the sperm.

This will answer many questions 




Use pressed ten minutes before inseminations.

Ps if it was me I'd pay privately for scan fsh lh amh bloods again. Just to check.

Pps you may now be eligible for free NHS treatment in some areas .

Hth


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## sunshine82 (Mar 14, 2013)

Thanks MeMyselfandI, that was very useful.  The Nitrogen tank looks scary!

Yeah, I think I need to pay to have some tests done privately so I'll have to start looking into a fertility clinic in the UK.  I wish the GP would just do the AMH!

I think I may need progesterone for luteal phase support as well, but again, GP won't prescribe it and nor will midwife-led clinic in Denmark.

Has something changed making single women in some areas entitled to NHS funding now?


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

Some areas do provide treatment if you've had a number of unsuccessful iuis already. I believe for some areas it's six others twelve. Some not at all. So worth s look! 

I have no idea of how good they are or if should be recommended but I know women who've used oxford health I think that provide online/phone consultations and supply medication.maybe something similar is worth looking into?


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