# home insemination advice



## tony803 (Jan 18, 2010)

Hi, I am a known donor to a female couple wanting to start a family we have been trying without sucess
for 14 months,could any one with results from home insemination tell us the right way to go about it just in case we have some thing wrong in the process we are using,
Many Thanks,
Tony.


----------



## Valhalla (May 25, 2006)

Hi Tony,

Firstly have you any children of your own? If not then you need to take a fertility test to make sure you don't have azoospermia. 

How are the girls monitoring their ovulation, are they using an ovulation prediction kit?

Are you donating to both girls?

Kind regards
V


----------



## nismat (Mar 7, 2005)

I would agree, I think that after 14 months of trying without any success, both you & the female couple that you are helping should have some fertility tests, if you haven't already   It could just be a case of bad luck, but it may be down to something more fundamental (such as sub-optimal sperm count for you or blocked Fallopian tubes for them). Neither of which is great to contemplate, but after 14 attempts, I think you do need to look at things more medically - your respective GPs are probably a good starting point (or maybe a sexual health clinic for a sperm test for you).

As far as the home-insems go, they should be monitoring their cycles (or if you're just donating to one of them, obviously that's the one whose cycles matter!), via ovulation testing kits at the very least, in order to get the timing right. It's no good just guesstimating when ovulation will be based on an "average" cycle where ovulation is cd14 (cd1 being 1st day of a period). A very helpful indicator of when to start ovulation testing is when the woman starts getting fertile/egg-white type cervical mucus. Once they get a positive OPK, ovulation is likely to be within 12-48 hours (most likely between 24 and 36 hours). I don't know how many times each cycle you are donating, but it's more likely to work if there is more than one insemination. Generally, the day after the +OPK is the key one to aim for, but doing an insem on the day of the +OPK, or 2 days after +OPK is also good timing.
Once you've handed over your pot of the essential stuff (make sure that the pot & syringe are bone dry - water causes sperm to die/explode!), they should wait for it to liquefy (which it will do within about 20 mins of ejaculation) - it makes it easier to draw up into a syringe. For their bit, whilst the inseminee is lying down, knees in the air, the syringe should be inserted so that it's as close to the cervix as possible, then the plunger pressed in slowly. It's best to leave the syringe in the vagina for a few minutes before removing it. They can then do the "lesbian rotisserie", lying on back/front/each side for 5-15 mins (legs up wherever possible), to coat the cervix thoroughly in the seminal fluid/sperm, for the best possible chance. If they so desire, an orgasm may help things on their way, but it's not necessary (nor is the extended lying down/lesbian rotisserie - but it can make it feel like it helps for sure!)

I dare say that you/they know all of this already, having been trying for 14 months, but I didn't want to miss out any of the obvious stuff! 

Hope some/all of that helps.


----------



## ♥JJ1♥ (Feb 11, 2006)

I was also TTC with my friend as a sperm donor and after 5 months we went to the clinic and found out that he had a low sperm count and ICSI was our only option.  Like the girls have suggested I would recommend sperm and fertiity tests for the ladies.

Good Luck


----------



## tony803 (Jan 18, 2010)

Hi, Thanks for the advice ,i am donating to just one girl her cycle is 24-29 days we are using a fertility monitor but only getting 2 peaks and then a high never a high before the peak if that makes sense.
I am donating on days 8-10-12-14 of the cycle just to cover any situation, i have just had a fertility check at Bath hospital over christmas it seems ok-101 million per ml with 3ml produced.
The next step is to get the young lady to be checked  out but she seems reluctant to go for some reason may be nerves.The question i would like to ask can the recipient inseminate herself or does it need her partner to help . My wife was pregnant three times in the past but never went to term so i have had some sucess fertility wise but that was a few years ago.
Many Thanks,
Tony


----------



## lesbo_mum (Dec 22, 2008)

Tony i use a fertility monitor and with my 10 sticks i get 2 lows 4 highs before my 2 peaks then another high before getting another low. 

I would say if you have been checked and have a good count which you do then she really needs to get checked out.

Yes a reciepient can inseminate herself her partner wouldnt need to do it... there are a couple of single girls on here who do home insems fine.


----------



## Alison0702 (Apr 7, 2006)

Hi Tony

I didnt do home insems, mine were all done at the hospital so cant add anything to what the others have said, but I just wanted to say I think you are fantastic for doing what you are doing..Its people like you that helped me get my gorgeous boys.


----------



## snagglepat (Sep 13, 2004)

Just to say, it took us 18 cycles of trying at home before we got and stayed pregnant. 

However, that was after we got some tests and discovered I had PCOS which meant I wasn't ovulating. I was referred to a consultant who prescribed me Metformin which is the mildest of the treatment options for PCOS. I was lucky and it worked for me, though it took a few months to get into my system and reliably take effect. We got pregnant the third time after I was on the medication. 

It is definitely worth your recipient getting checked out. Even if there is an issue there, it may be something that can be easily remedied as it was in our case.

Good luck!

Gina. x


----------



## ♥JJ1♥ (Feb 11, 2006)

Tony it does sound like she needs to get checked your have a good Sperm count and proven fertility. I wonder why she would be reluctant when you are helping so much? I always inseminated the 3 days after my surge was detected.


----------

