Intrauterine Insemination /artificial Insemination
Intrauterine Insemination , also known as artificial insemination, is a type of fertility treatment where sperm that have been washed and concentrated are placed directly through a catheter in a womans uterus around the time of a womans cycle that the mature egg is ovulating. An IUI can be performed with a womans natural cycle, with oral fertility medications, or with injectable ovulatory stimulating medications.
- Donor Sperm: Women using donor sperm most often use intrauterine insemination to transfer the sperm into their uterus.
- Mild Male Factor Infertility: Washing and concentrating sperm and placing it directly into the uterus can overcome sub-fertile men with below average sperm count, mild sperm morphology or motility problems. It is usually not successful with more severe cases of male infertility.
- IUI is often the first line of treatment for several female fertility issues, such as Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome or endometriosis. While it is not as successful as IVF, it costs less, and some health insurance requires that a certain number of IUI cycles be tried before they will pay for IVF.
- Unexplained Infertility: IUI is often the first line of treatment for unexplained infertility, along with ovulation inducing medications.
How Is Iui Done
IUI is done in the doctors office, during a visit timed to correspond to when youre ovulating.
Ovulation may be induced with Clomid or another ovulation induction medication, though for women who dont need the extra help, the procedure can be timed to correspond with your natural window, in whats called a natural-cycle IUI.
Here’s what to expect during the procedure:
- First youll lie on the exam table with your feet in stirrups the same position as for a pelvic exam.
- Once the insemination is complete, youll be asked to lie on your back for a brief period, and then youll be able to return to regular activity.
The whole IUI procedure takes only a couple of minutes, and there isnt much discomfort or, about as much as youd have during a Pap test. There’s also no need to worry if you experience light spotting for a day or two after your IUI thats normal for some women.
A few notes about the sperm used in IUI: This sperm isnt fresh its been washed in preparation for the procedure, optimizing the sperm to maximize the odds of fertilization.
If youre using donor sperm or your partners previously frozen sperm, it will be thawed immediately before the IUI procedure. The insemination then takes place as soon as the sperm washing is complete.
Right now, IUI is the gold standard of artificial insemination and the go-to AI procedure.
Get To Know Your Cycle
How much do you know about your menstrual cycle? Really understanding helps you know when youre most fertile, says Hillard. Ovulation is the best time to get pregnant. This is the time to focus on having sex, Hillard says.
It helps to become aware of the signs of ovulation, such as a change in your cervical mucus. It usually becomes thin and slippery when you are most fertile. Some women may also feel a one-sided twinge of pain.
Ovulation prediction kits can also help you predict the best time to get pregnant, says James Goldfarb, MD, director of the infertility service at the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland. Not only can they help assure you that you are ovulating, if you are having infrequent intercourse, this tells you when to have it to increase your chances of getting pregnant, he says.
Heres how it works: The first day of your menstrual period is considered day one. Start testing on day nine and keep going until you get a positive, advises Joanne Piscitelli, MD, an associate professor of gynecology at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C. Women with a 28-day cycle tend to ovulate on day 14. But many women have longer or shorter cycles, so casting a wide net can help you be sure.
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Who Uses Artificial Insemination
Artificial insemination can also help couples with certain female fertility problems, particularly cervical abnormalities that make it harder for sperm to pass into the uterus naturally.
Single women and same-sex female couples may also turn to artificial insemination and donor sperm to achieve pregnancy without a male partner.
Increasing Your Sperm Count
Tip: In addition to cutting out unhealthy snacks like chips and sweets, especially avoid processed meats like bacon. Processed meats may lower your sperm count more than other unhealthy foods.
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Who’s A Candidate For Artificial Insemination Or Iui
Couples experiencing otherwise unexplained fertility issues, where its clear nature could use a nudge, are good candidates for IUI.
Couples with mild male factor fertility problems are also good candidates. This assisted reproductive technique can also help when the cervical environment or cervical mucus is hostile to sperm, making it hard for them to swim.
Same-sex couples may also turn to artificial insemination for help starting their family , as can single women who want to become moms on their own with a sperm donor.
IUI isnt recommended for women who have significant fallopian tube blockages or conditions, a history of pelvic infections or severe endometriosis.
Does your guy have a very low sperm count, or significant problems with sperm motility or morphology ? Fertility specialists will usually not recommend IUI in those situations, since its less likely to be successful.
Pregnancy Without Sperm Is It Possible
Although you can get pregnant without having sexual intercourse, pregnancy without sperm is impossible.
Without intercourse, you can get pregnant with the help of different fertility treatments and procedures such as IVF, IUI, and at-home insemination.
During IVF, eggs together with sperm are incubated outside the body. If fertilization occurs, one or two healthy embryos are then transferred to the uterus.
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Paying For Iui Privately
IUI is also available from some private fertility clinics. The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority has a fertility clinic finder.
Costs range from about £700 to £1,600 for each cycle of IUI treatment.
The Human Fertilisation & Embryology Authority website has more information on costs and funding for fertility treatments.
How To Artificially Inseminate A Dog
This article was co-authored by John Jess. John Jess is a Dog Breeder and the Founder of Central Illinois Doodles, a family business located in Arthur, Illinois. He specializes in breeding Goldendoodles and Bernedoodles. Central Illinois Doodles has been named one of the Top 10 Bernedoodle breeders in the United States by Bubbly Pet and Pupvine. Theyve also been named one of the best Goldendoodle breeders by Trending Breeds and Devoted to Dog.There are 8 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been viewed 192,341 times.
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What Can You Expect After Iui Treatment
There are some mild symptoms that you can experience after IUI:
- Spotting for one or two days.
Most people will return to normal activities right away. You should avoid anything that makes you feel uncomfortable after IUI, but there usually arent any restrictions. A pregnancy test can be taken around two weeks after IUI.
What Is Artificial Insemination
Artificial insemination is a fertility treatment method used to deliver sperm directly to the cervix or uterus in the hopes of getting pregnant. Sometimes, these sperm are washed or prepared to increase the likelihood a woman will get pregnant.
Two chief approaches to artificial insemination exist: intrauterine insemination and intracervical insemination . Some women may also take medications to stimulate ovarian follicle growth and increase conception chances.
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Abstain From Sex During Your Fertile Window
In order to effectively postpone pregnancy naturally, a woman must be able to detect the beginning and end of her fertile window. Avoiding sex on the days you are most fertile, or during your fertile window, is key to preventing or postponing pregnancy. Even though you are not equally likely to conceive on every day of your fertile window, your chance of conception is still high. If you are trying to avoid pregnancy you will need to avoid sex during this time.
What Can I Expect During Iui
Before IUI, you may take fertility medicines that help make your eggs mature and ready to be fertilized. Your doctor will do the insemination procedure during ovulation . Sometimes youll be given hormones that trigger ovulation. Theyll figure out exactly when youre ovulating and ready for the procedure to maximize your chances of getting pregnant.
During the IUI procedure, the doctor slides a thin, flexible tube through your cervix into your uterus. They use a small syringe to insert the sperm through the tube directly into your uterus. Pregnancy happens if sperm fertilizes an egg, and the fertilized egg implants in the lining of your uterus.
The insemination procedure is done at your doctors office or at a fertility clinic, and it only takes about 5-10 minutes. Its pretty quick, and you dont need anesthesia. IUI is usually not painful, but some people have mild cramping.
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Positions Orgasms And Lube
There are a lot of myths about sex, fertility, and how to make pregnancy more likely. Some of these recommend different positions or keeping the hips elevated after sex for a period of time.
Others claim that if the woman orgasms , conception is more likely. Unfortunately, there are no studies that support these claims.
The one thing you should think about is your lubricant. Certain products can decrease sperm motility and viability. These are important when trying to get pregnant.
Youll want to avoid:
If you need to use a lubricant, try:
These products wont interfere with your partners sperm.
How Likely Is It To Get Pregnant Without Trying
The time it takes for a person to get pregnant varies significantly and depends on many factors. There are many lifestyle factors that can impact your fertility and affect how likely it is for you to get pregnant without trying. Doctors typically recommend women under 35 actively try for a year before investigating further issues.
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What Are The Success Rates
Though IUIs success rate depends on a host of variables, such as your age, your fertility profile, sperm quality, whether fertility medication is used and so on, you can expect a success rate of anywhere from 5 to 20 percent per IUI.
The success rate of IUI is twice as high when combined with Clomid or other ovulation inducers like letrozole compared with IUI alone.
Because most couples who turn to IUI dont do so because of female fertility problems, pregnancy rates are high about 40 percent for younger women after up to six tries.
If the male partner has a very low sperm count, or significant problems with sperm motility or morphology , IUI is not likely to be successful.
If you still havent achieved conception success after three to four rounds of IUI, youll likely be advised to move to the next step: IVF.
Iui Treatment: What To Expect
At your initial consultation, you will meet with one of our fertility specialists to review your medical history and your family building goals. We will then order diagnostic tests, such as a saline infusion sonogram or a hysterosalpingogram , to make sure your fallopian tubes are open and your uterus appears normal. This information is important to help us to know what fertility treatment will be most beneficial for you.
IUI treatment is performed during an ovulation cycle. Most commonly, patients will take a fertility medication, such as Clomid, to stimulate ovulation. We will prescribe your medication and monitor you closely with regular ultrasounds and bloodwork to determine the best time for your insemination procedure.
Once your ovulation window is determined, your partner will provide a sperm sample to our andrologists, or if you are using donor sperm, the andrologists will prepare the sperm sample provided by the third-party agency. We will then perform a special technique called a sperm wash on the samples in the laboratory to obtain the best quality sperm.
Two weeks following IUI, you will take a pregnancy test to see if the procedure was successful. If you are pregnant, we will monitor your pregnancy closely via bloodwork and ultrasound. If your test is negative, we will prepare for a new treatment cycle or consider other treatment options.
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What Are The Possible Side Effects
Some women notice slight spotting after their IUI procedure, most likely the result of the catheter being placed in the uterus. Such spotting is nothing to worry about, and it doesnt have any effect on your chances of getting pregnant.
Some women report feeling wetter after IUI. Its not sperm dripping out , but it could be the result of the catheter loosening cervical mucus, of which there is typically plenty during your peak ovulation period.
What Is Intrauterine Insemination
Intrauterine insemination is also known as artificial insemination or IUI. Human artificial insemination with another person’s sperm began being used in the 1940s. The IUI procedure can be an effective treatment for some causes of infertility or being used for other reasons such as in some LGBTQ pregnancies and/or when a partner producing sperm is unavailable. AI is usually done by a doctor, but there are alternative ways to do DIY artificial insemination at home.
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Are There Any Risks
Some women have mild cramps similar to period pains, but otherwise the risks involved with IUI are minimal.
If you have fertility medicine to stimulate ovulation, there is a small risk of developing ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome. Read more about this condition on our page about the risks of IVF. There’s also a chance that you will have more than 1 baby, which has additional risks for both you and your babies.
Page last reviewed: 10 March 2020 Next review due: 10 March 2023
The Proven Way To Get Pregnant Without Having Sex
When artificial insemination is done at the fertility clinic, the procedure will typically be intrauterine insemination . In IUI, sperm that has been washed and concentrated is inserted directly in the uterus. This is done at the time of ovulation, with the aim that the sperm will swim into the fallopian tube and fertilize a waiting egg.
You can opt to perform artificial insemination at home, though, placing the sperm near the cervix as opposed to in the uterus. This is called intracervical insemination, or ICI. As with IUI, its vital to do the procedure when youre ovulating. You will need to purchase an at-home insemination kit, but, contrary to what popular media might imply, the syringe youll use is not the same as a turkey baster.
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Your Chances Of Success With Iui
This depends on lots of different things, including:
- the cause of infertility
- the woman’s age
- the man’s sperm count and sperm quality
- whether fertility medicines are used to stimulate ovulation
There are many different factors involved, so it’s best to talk to your fertility team about your individual chances of success.
What Are The Common Concerns Related To Donor Insemination
It is important to discuss issues such as:
- Your churchs religious position on donor insemination? Some denominations oppose donor insemination.
- The fact that the father will not have a hereditary or genetic relationship with the child.
- That the sperm donor is often anonymous which can prevent the child from knowing their biological history.
- The secrecy that is often a part of donor insemination can lead to the feeling that something about it is morally or ethically wrong. This can lead to feelings of guilt, shame, or fear.
- The childs right to know and whether to reveal how conception has occurred.
- Questions about the childs family likeness or the absence of it.
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The Donor Insemination Cycle
What your donor insemination will look like depends on the type you are planning to have. There are three types of donor insemination used and there are advantages and disadvantages to every option.
- Intra-cervical or intra-vaginal insemination
- Intrauterine insemination
Generally speaking, IUI is the most common method used because the success rate is slightly higher than intra-vaginal or intra-cervical insemination. IVF with donor sperm is only chosen if there are fertility challenges with the woman carrying the baby.
You may have a natural cycle or a cycle with fertility drugs. A natural cycle just means that you wont be taking any fertility drugs to stimulate or boost ovulation. You only need fertility drugs with insemination if there are ovulation concerns in the woman who will carry the pregnancy.
