All You Need To Know About At Home Insemination

Copartners who hope to bring new life into the world turn to artificial insemination as a means of conceiving. Couples having trouble getting pregnant, same-sex partners and women wanting to be single moms opt for Artificial Insemination.

Among all other artificial insemination techniques, At Home Insemination is the most affordable choice. This option allows them to inject semen in the vagina in the comfort of their homes outside the stressful clinical setting.

 

What is At Home Insemination?

At Home Insemination is an alternative process to induce pregnancy outside the fertility clinic with lesser expenses. It entails placing the sperm inside the reproductive tract of the female without performing sexual intercourse. It uses only a needless syringe to guide the sperm into the vagina. The partners themselves may deliver this process. They may opt to perform the procedure with or without a physician or midwife present.

Since it does not need any medical assistance, couples need only purchase an at-home insemination kit. However, that is just a general idea of home insemination. For the procedure to be successful, it involves a lot of preparation and the right timing.

Who Choose At Home Insemination?

At- home insemination allows single women or same-sex couples to become pregnant using donated sperm. With home insemination, couples with fertility problems are a simpler alternative to conception.

One over four couples from developing countries has been found by the World Health Organization to be affected by infertility. It is a disease of the reproductive system inhibiting sexually-active couples from conceiving a child. Given that for at least 12 months, this couple has been having frequent, unprotected sexual intercourse.

A myriad of factors causes infertility, including genetics, exposure to specific environments, and infectious diseases. Moreover, the inability to conceive affects both female and male sexes.

Child Conception

Conceiving a child requires a man’s sperm to travel from the vagina, passing the cervix, uterus to the fallopian tube. It is here where the woman’s egg cell may undergo fertilization. In some cases, failure to conceive a child is due to poor – quality semen. Signs of abnormal semen are low sperm count, unnatural sperm mobility, and weirdly – formed sperm cells. Erectile dysfunction and premature ejaculation are also determining factors of infertility.

Female Infertility

However, statistics show the popularity of infertility in women. Female infertility ranks fifth as the highest global severe disability. Thirty-four million women, mostly from developing countries, are infertile due to maternal sepsis and unsafe abortion. Other reasons may include ovulation problems such as Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS), Fibroids, Cervical Mucus problems, scarring from surgery, etc.

If the woman is older than the age of 35, a doctor would recommend a couple of artificial inseminations after six months of unprotected sex. And will recommend the procedure after a year if the woman is younger than 35.

What Materials are Needed for At Home Insemination?

In the insemination kit, you will find the necessary materials to perform the insemination. The kit includes a sterile 2 to 5 ml needles syringe or oral medicine syringe, vinyl gloves, physiological saline solution, and specimen sample collection cup. Sometimes there would be an additional ovulation predictor kit available in the package. Regardless, all these materials are available for purchase in the drug store.

How is At Home Insemination Performed?

Observing the woman’s ovulation cycle aids in identifying the optimum time to proceed with the insemination. Ideally, the procedure should take place the day or after the Luteinizing Hormone (LH) surges. Within 2 to 3-day after the LH surge is still an allowable window.

During the process of preparing for insemination, a physician will evaluate the woman’s reproductive health and address any issues that can impact fertility potential. Sperm is also ‘washed’ so the best quality sperm are concentrated for insemination,” Dr. John Rapisarda, M.D. says.

Once a suitable time is identified, the male ejaculates his sperm into the collection cup, baggy, or condom. Aside from fresh sperm, a woman might have decided to use frozen sperm from the cryobank. There are detailed instructions to thawing the sperm.

Gather the specimen in the sterilized syringe by pushing the air out of the tube. Position the tip of the syringe directly with the semen; pull back the stopper to collect the sperm into the syringe. Make sure no air bubbles are present. With the tip pointed upwards, tap out the bubbles by pressing the plunger inside until semen fills the syringe.

The woman should lay down in a comfortable position with her hips raised. Gently, insert the syringe as far into the vagina as possible until it is close to the cervix. Slowly inject the specimen to coat the outside area of the cervix. Do not remove the syringe right away. Wait ten more seconds before slowly removing it. The woman should lie on her back and avoid moving for about 30 minutes.

After the procedure, it is equally important to wash your supplies with warm water, or saline solution for reuse. In some insemination kits, the syringe is suitable for one-time use only and will have to be correctly disposed of afterward.

At Home Insemination Success Rate: The Importance Of Timing

Therefore, securing the ovulation period of a woman is vital. To further increase the possibility of a successful insemination, it is ideal for a woman to have an orgasm with clitoral stimulation.

Orgasm during the injection of the sperm or shortly after is sufficient. This act shoots the sperm deeper into the cervix and speeding the flow of the specimen toward the egg.

It is crucial for partners also to know that sometimes during the first time, it may not work. Sometimes the artificial insemination process has to be done multiple times before the subject may conceive. The timeframe of its success stretches from a month to years, so patience and repetition are needed.

 

What are the Methods for Insemination?

Compared to other techniques, home insemination is far by the most affordable artificial insemination procedure. It saves on costs for medical offices fees. However, for people to perform the insemination, a licensed practitioner must sign the required release paperwork.

Other classifications and treatments are Intracervical and Intrauterine insemination and In Vitro Fertilization (IVF). Intracervical Insemination (ICI) involves a doctor to insert the sperm in the woman’s cervix using a special syringe. They allow ICI to be done in the fertility clinic or at home. It is also known as the Turkey Baster Method and the most commonly used. Thus, the process is similar but involves the role of a physician, making it a more expensive alternative.

OB-GYN Donna Crowe, MD says, “We have had a handful women use the “turkey baster” method over the years where the use sperm from a friend or friends in the baster and inject into the vagina to inseminate at home. Although one can easily conceive this way, it may open the mother up to custody issues with the donor if legal contracts are not signed ahead of time.”

Intra-uterine insemination (IUI), on the other hand, requires inserting the sperm directly into the uterus past the cervix.  “It’s simple, minimally uncomfortable, and similar to pap smear in terms of discomfort,” Alyssa Dweck, M.D. shares. Again, the steps are similar to that of ICI.

However, IUI requires the procedure to be performed inside the clinic and with specially prepared sperm. In preparing sperm for IUI, the doctor washes the semen to remove potential proteins that might hinder fertilization. Preparing the semen in this manner makes it more concentrated and more likely for the woman to conceive. Once readied, the specially prepared sperm is introduced to the uterus via a specific instrument – speculum. It is thin and specially crafted to be able to access the uterus. This procedure has higher success rates compared to ICI.

Also, IVF is another popular treatment. A man and woman’s sex cell is extracted, fertilized in a laboratory, and grown into embryos. Then, a doctor transfers the fully formed embryo or embryos into a woman’s uterus. Though this process is more expensive and time-consuming compared to home insemination, the possibility of a successful implant varies.

What are the Benefits and Side Effects of Home Insemination?

Performing insemination at home allows a woman to be in a convenient, comfortable, and private space. This technique also allows women to use fresh sperm rather than stored sperm for those who have involved male partners. Usually, a midwife uses an unwashed specimen acquired immediately from the male. Conditions are different if you do this in a clinical environment; therefore, there is a higher risk of infection. It is equally important to discuss such risks with the woman subjecting herself so that she may be fully aware of contingencies.

Before proceeding with home insemination, it is best to seek professional medical advice. Prospective parents should also consider taking an infection screening to make sure no infections would be exchanged during the process. Women who have chosen donors should also be wary of the man’s role as a legal parent by law. If the donor so wishes to rescind his rights to the child, he would have to sign a legal contract.

At Home Insemination is a creative and more affordable alternative that allows copartners to conceive in the confines of their own home. In a convenient Home Insemination Kit, the materials needed are readily available to prospective parents. Although success rates might vary depending on the method used, timing and repetition are factors to consider. Home Insemination gives people a chance to experience the beautiful experience of parenthood. A right and blessing to all kinds of people.

Frequently Asked Question

What is the success rate of home artificial insemination?
At-home insemination has a success rate of 10-15% per menstrual cycle. There are crucial factors to consider to be successful including proper timing and ample preparation.

Can you get pregnant by injecting sperm with a syringe?
Yes, a successful pregnancy is possible by injecting sperm through a syringe. A needleless syringe is inserted into the vagina where the sperm is released, then it travels on its own until it reaches the uterus.

Does home insemination really work?
Yes, there is a 10-15% chance that it will work per menstrual cycle. This method is preferred by women because it is low-cost, comfortable, and convenient.

How much sperm is needed for at-home insemination?
It is recommended to have 10 million to 19 million sperm for home insemination. Since home insemination is non-surgical, unwashed sperm may be used for the procedure.

Can you get pregnant by a turkey baster?
Yes, you can use a turkey baster to get pregnant. Although experts do recommend using a sterile needleless syringe to ensure the safety and success of the procedure.

Can I artificially inseminate myself?
Yes, you can do the insemination process on your own. To employ this method, one must procure the materials on your own, including the sperm to be used. Experts recommend best to buy from a sperm bank because these are safer since they are pre-screened.

What size syringe is best for home insemination?
If you will be inseminating 1mL of sperm from a sperm donor, get a syringe that is 1-5mL. However, if you are inseminating freshly obtained donor sperm, it is usually larger in volume, use a 5mL syringe.

How long should I leave sperm in to get pregnant?
The sperm can survive in the female reproductive system for up to five days. But it can fertilize right away if there is a ripe egg available.

Kathy Urbanski

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