# Home inseminations



## emnjo (Jan 17, 2008)

Hiya

Could anyone give me some advise on home inseminations? We may use a known donor now and just want to get all the info we can.  Things like how long does the sperm live outside the body - do we need to cover the pot, what syringe did you use?? How many insems would you recommend?
Any info at all would be fab. 

Thanks

Emma X


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## lucky2010 (Jan 10, 2006)

Hi Emma,

We used 5 ml syringes and a sterile pot (doesn't need to be sterile, just clean). Is best to be used asap although i think sperm lives for up to 2 hrs (might have imagined that figure!). We did two inseminations, one on the aftrenoon before my LH surge and one on the morning of surge and we got pregnant first time!!! Good luck.

Rach


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## pem (Jan 10, 2007)

Hi Emma.

We also used 5ml syringes and small sample pots with screw on lids (all obtained from ebay from medical supplies company...we have lots bought in bulk, will be saving them for next time!!    ). We did use the lids as P the donor would stay for a coffee after he had done the job and the info we had told us to wait for 30-40 mins to let the sperm liquify!!!

Think the sperm is best used within an hour or so Like Rach though, I may have imagined that figure !!

We did three insems on average, one on the day of my LH surge, (smiley face on the clearblue ovulation test), and then for the following two days, on one occasion we also insemmed the day before my LH surge, not sure about whether that is worth it though!

Basically our 'procedure' went as follows.

P did his part, we waited for the sperm to liquify, P left and then we would  draw the sperm up into the syringe, I would lie on my bed with a zillion pillows under my hips to keep my pelvis raised and keep the sperm in, then DP did the deed with the syringe and then she would leave it in to act as a plug ( thanks for that advice Gina!!). I would then stay in that grossly uncomfortable position for about an hour, willing the little swimmers on thier way and then all done!!!

I would practice with some yogurt or something, to find the right position to lie in to avoid as much leakage ( some leakage is unaviodable though I think!) and to get the hang of the syringe etc, much panic ensues if any sperm is wasted, as happened to me and DP on our first try.

i would also track your cycle for a month or so before going ahead to get a handle on your cervical mucus, the day of your LH surge etc, then you will know what youa re doing much better. I would reccommend Clearblue digital ovulation tests, expensive but worth it, i had some cheap ones off the internet and they were cacka!!!

another thing, although may be tmi, i also used to try and have an orgasm or two whilst lying with my ass in the air (ladies on another thread on here enlightened me to the hoovering method of the cervix during orgasm, supposedly, it 'sucks' sperm up) however, this can be easier said than doen when lying with your ass in the air and a syringe in place    

Hope this helps, god I Have gone on!!

Emma


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## emnjo (Jan 17, 2008)

Brilliant - thanks for this!!!  

I have been monitoring my ovulation for the past 4 months, all seems to be ok. I love the clearblue sticks, and still get over excited when I see a smiley face - god knows my reaction when I get a BFP.

Did you use a known donor?

We were planning on going to LWC, but may use a known donor now. He is a friend of ours, he is married with 2 kids. Both him and his wofe are happy to donate, but we don't him to be dad - neither do they.

Do you know much about the legal implications? We would get a donor contract drwan up - but not sure how watertight they are? I am going to get in touch with Nat Gamble, I know she is very good. We are not C'ped though, so not sure how this will work. 

Scarey stuff hay!!!


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## pem (Jan 10, 2007)

Smileyface's are the best, I used to get truly excited too!!!!  It makes you feel all happy!!

We used a known donor, but we also plan for him to have regular contact with our little one and to play a 'daddy' role in her life as this is important to us, he is a good freind who has a partner, we are very lucky as he is a fantastic guy!!

Good luck with it all, hope it goes well, I am excited for you!!

Emma


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## snagglepat (Sep 13, 2004)

Hi Emma, and all,

You're pretty much got all you need to know here *Emnjo*.  We did all the above, although we gave up on the orgasms after a while - 30 or so inseminations in it was getting a bit of an effort... 

The only difference is we'd only leave the sperm 20 minutes or so before drawing it into the syringe and using it - we had our cuppa with our donor before he did the deed. The month we were successful we inseminated on the day I ovulated and the day before, which would have probably been the day we got a surge and the day after if we'd been using the wee sticks (they didn't work for me as my LH level was too high for too long and the sticks were too sensitive - according to them I surged for a week). We also bought a bulk load of specimen pots and syringes and used fresh ones each time.

Legalities wise, no contract with a known donor is legally binding, but they do serve as proof of intent should any issues arise later and they do mean you talk through everything fully before going ahead. There will always be a risk that you or he could change your/his mind later on, so you need to be sure you trust each other very well before you begin.

I'm not sure how easy it is to get parental responsibility for your partner without a CP as we had to show our certificate when we got it for Rae last year. Nat should be able to let you know if its possible. Equally, the adoption we're going through is a step parent adoption, and I'm not sure how important our CP is to this going ahead. We only did the CP because we felt it would make things easier for us with Ember.

Good luck with it! Even though it can be scary I'm a big advocate of known donors, because it worked so well and felt so right for us, even if it took a while. 

Best wishes,

Gina. x


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## pem (Jan 10, 2007)

Gina - think I would have been with you on the orgasms after 30 insems, they were definitely becoming a bit of an effort after 3 months....don't want any association problems!!!!


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## snagglepat (Sep 13, 2004)

I just thought I'd update on the adoption issue as I spoke to a social worker at the adoption/fostering team of our council earlier today. We're just making the initial enquiries so we can let them know of our intention to adopt when Ember is 6 months old. She asked us some basic questions including how long we'd been together and how long we'd lived together. She explained that this was basically about assessing how established/permanent our relationship was, in terms of how stable a family we were for Ember. She added that because we were civil partners this box would be pretty much ticked from the start as we'd already clearly made a long term commitment, but that because we'd lived together for over five years we'd be pretty much OK anyway.

So I think (and I think I'd picked up something similar to this before now too now I come to think about it) that to do the parental agreement you need to be civil partners but that you can do the adoption without once your child is six months old (as long as you can satisfy them that you're in a stable long term partnership). This means that the non-bio-mum won't have parental rights until the child is 9-12 months old at least depending on how quick your local authority is at getting through the adoption process. You can make things a bit more secure by making sure you've written wills that give her guardianship should anything happen to to the bio-mum, but she won't be legally recognised as a parent for health/educational stuff until the adoption is through.

I hope that makes sense!

Best wishes,

Gina. x


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