Considering at-home insemination with donor sperm...?

[Mushe]

My partner and I want to purchase a fertility monitor and are thinking of the Ovacue. Just wondering if any of you have used it and have feedback. Some friends of our that are also TTC don't like theirs but they are doing IUI's with a RE. We will be doing at home inseminations with frozen sperm are thinking it would be helpful in determining when to have the sperm shipped. Any thoughts?

Hi, sorry, I can't help but I know someone will turn up soon with awesome advice

Welcome Mushe,

So AF showed up today, CBFM has been set CD1 it is!! Just waiting now to start testing and DTD . I've started a journal if anyone is interseted in my story....

Hey Kezza,

I'll have a squizz at your journal

 

[LunaBean]

I cant help either regarding fertility monitors, sorry! I just use OPKs (the pee sticks) and wait til they get positive!

We're going to our donors house in the morning before we drive to belfast for Pride on Saturday, Im excited!! Mostly about Pride tho,lol. OPKs have started getting dark,so hopefully be positive tomro. Saturday would have been a better day, but we have to go up a day early. Will have pix of pride when I get back, 10, 000 people last year, hopefully more this year!!

 

[topazicatzbet]

i used one of the old style ovacue when ttc callum, i found it confusing. i prefered the cbfm

 

[EpdTTC]

Good luck this weekend Lizzie!

Topaz: How are you doing in the 2ww?

MommyTammy: Given any more thought to trying to find a known donor?

I had an u/s yesterday and baby was still there growing on schedule! Saw the heartbeat too. I asked my doc that if everything looked ok on the u/s could we skip the blood work since it just makes me worry if it isn't perfect. So no blood work! Yay. That was a big relief. I go back next Friday for another scan although I'm thinking of changing it to the following week because he said I could come back in 7-14 days. I worry so much before my scans that I am actually starting to think that less is better. What do you girls think?

 

[LunaBean]

I agree, less scans are better, you always worry in the 7 days leading to the scan, and dont really get to enjoy it! Wait til ur morning sickness kicks in, you'll be wishing it away!! lol. Im so glad things are going well!!!

I was at the donors house today, meeting another one tomro too, should ovulate tomro or Sunday!!

 

[topazicatzbet]

Good luck this weekend Lizzie!

Topaz: How are you doing in the 2ww?

MommyTammy: Given any more thought to trying to find a known donor?

I had an u/s yesterday and baby was still there growing on schedule! Saw the heartbeat too. I asked my doc that if everything looked ok on the u/s could we skip the blood work since it just makes me worry if it isn't perfect. So no blood work! Yay. That was a big relief. I go back next Friday for another scan although I'm thinking of changing it to the following week because he said I could come back in 7-14 days. I worry so much before my scans that I am actually starting to think that less is better. What do you girls think?

im ok thanks, no real symptoms, my temp is high though.

 

[Renge]

Hi everyone... I have been looking for a known donor for a while now and it has not gone well. I was supposed to meet with my donor for this cycle (a week and a half ago) and he decided to tell me he was coming, then not show up!
I would like to hear from any of you who have experience finding a known donor or asking someone (i.e. an acquaintance) to donate for you. I am in a location that most potential donors will not travel to (Mid-Maine... I have not found any donors here except one seedy "couple"!), and I do not have anyone I feel comfortable enough asking (without the fear of it getting talked about by everyone the next day).
I am really upset and frustrated with my experience so far. Many donors act like they will donate then disappear, or have "schedule conflicts," or (as in this month) do not show up and do not give any response after flaking.

Sorry for the ranting thrown in there... And thanks for reading!!

 

[Nimyra]

Renge, my advice is to consider how far you are willing to travel to receive a donation (short flight, 3 hour drive, etc), and expand your search radius. Are their nearby major cities where you have family or friends you could stay with while inseminating (to keep costs down). Frozen sperm would have put me out $400-$800 a month, so my budget for at home inseminations was about about $400. I decided I was willing to travel as far as 4 hours away (by car) and looked for donors in nearby states. Since you are in a remote area, you will have to stay flexible, or else fall back on using a sperm bank or try fresh sperm shipping (which can work, but the success rate is lower).

The traveling is a lot easier if you work a flexible job and don't have small children and isn't for everyone.

If the known donor route doesn't work, you *can* inseminate at home with frozen sperm from a bank.

I know its' not ideal... but that's life when living in a more remote part of the country.

For what its worth, I traveled to a different city to inseminate with my chosen donor. It wasn't the easiest thing, but it was worth it to me.

 

[doglover888]

Hey, I'm new here. So glad I found this thread. I am 44 and desperately want to be a mom. I had a baby in 2004 who would be 6 now but she died at months. I am single right now and no mr. right in sight. So, I started using donor sperm in April. 3 failed IUI's so far. 2 weren't the most perfect timing. 1 at home insemination that I did this month. I've been on clomid every month since May. 50 mg in May, 100 mg in June & July. But to no avail.

I am devastated that I started my period this morning. I can't afford to just throw thousands of dollars at this. I don't see how I can afford to do much more at all. I've already spent close to $5,000 dollars! I can afford about 2 more vials of donor sperm. Does anyone have any advice? My insurance doesn't cover infertility treatments. Do I have any hope for this to happen?

Sandy

 

[topazicatzbet]

hey hun, sorry about your loss.

have you concidered a known donor, they dont have to be part of the babies life.

look back a page or 2 and you ll find the web address of the site i used to find my donor. you only pay them expenses. much cheaper.

good luck

 

[Nimyra]

Hi and welcome Sandy,

Most of us on this thread used/are using known donors because of cost considerations and also the success rate using fresh sperm is about twice as high (at least) as using frozen sperm - and the timing doesn't have to be as exact.

There are a lot of tips throughout these pages on finding known donors (friends, or using internet sites). I found my donor on the yahoogroup freespermdonors, which has a lot of US donors. Some of the other sites might be better for finding UK donors.

If you have any specific questions, ask away. We're here to help!

 

[doglover888]

I don't have any one that I could ask to be a donor. Wish i did. I did try to find the yahoo group free sperm donor but couldn't. I am in the US and don't know how prevalent free donors are especially here in the bible belt of Georgia! I'm also a little leery of free sperm donors. I mean if they aren't going to be involved, why do they do it???

Sandy

 

[Nimyra]

https://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/FreeSpermDonors/

There are definitely some weirdos to weed through, but a lot of donors are just nice guys who wanted to be donors for whatever reason but were rejected from donating at sperm banks because their sperm didn't freeze well (90% of potential sperm bank donors are rejected for this reason). You do have to trust your instincts and only work with someone who seems trustworthy.

Lizzie is a pro at finding donors and might have some tips.

 

[LunaBean]

I am indeed Em lol..I had 3 on the go at one point!!

I suggest you post an ad in the 'men wanted' section of a local website (a classifieds site), because as seedy as it sounds, thats the audience you're targeting, and chances are they you'll get the most replies!!! I did have to sift through over 100 replies from creepy, pervy men..but there were a few who didn't mess me about. Although I did meet a few who then turned out to be creeps too after awhile, it just takes some time for you to suss them out..and always awlays make sure they get STD/STI tests done before you do anything, and always make sure you know exactly where you stand with them, ie no contact at all with the child, or some after awhile. My donors at the minute won't be having any contact with the child, which leaves me free to use a few at once (I have 2 regulars at the minute), because it won't matter who the dad is.

You may find that someone who starts out not wanting any contact, wants to get more involved when you get pregnant. Ive had this happen, and although I then lost the baby, the donor realised he was more attached than he meant to get, and ended the 'relationship'. It is a long and stressful process, feel free to PM me (or any one of us) if you have any questions about wording your ad or anything Good luck!!!

An update on me..Im currently in the dreaded 2WW, boo Saw the donor on Friday, but didnt ovulate until yesterday, so hope Im still in with a chance!!!

 

[Nimyra]

mini-rant:

One thing that annoys me about the yahoogroup is that the moderators often respond to people's posts asking questions about insemination/ovulation prediction etc. The moderators are all men who are donors, and they have some set ideas about at-home insemination most notably:
1) that LH surge pee sticks are the best way to predict ovulation
2) if you aren't getting positive LH surge on the sticks you probably aren't ovulating
3) That you should always inseminate after getting the positive LH surge
4) that no more than 2 inseminations should be done a month

I get so irritated about this, because lots of women never get positive LH surge tests (myself included) and still ovulate. Those tests don't work for everyone. Also, if you wait until the positive test, you might actually be catching the positive on the way back down (you'll get two positives per cycle, when you start the peak, and when the peak falls back down) so if you wait you might miss the egg. I am such a big believer in using other methods (cervical mucus, temping, etc) to confirm ovulation and when in doubt inseminate early and often. I hate seeing misinformation spread as FACT.

The moderators also like to say that sperm only live for 48 hours which simply isn't true.

Anyway... Lizzie, early insemination is better than late insemination. I'm sure you still have a shot this month.!

 

[LunaBean]

Yeah thats silly Em...one of the times I got pregnant I never got a positive..just a week of faint lines..but going by my chart/CM I definately ovulated! (well obv I did if I got pregnant lol). But I would have thought I was out that month and wouldnt even have inseminated if I wasnt checing CM and temping! I think alot of people have this notion that you can just get pregnant...my sister said to me the other day 'I thought it would have worked first time' *rolls eyes*. Everyones body is different..and its not just a case of 'getting pregnant'...we wouldnt go to all this trouble if it was! Its also better to inseminate as much as possible!! I never do it more than once the same day tho, maybe every other day

Em..how are you anyway? Bet ur getting excited!!!!!

 

[topazicatzbet]

i know what you mean. before i found my donor i was thinking about using another donor.

my first cycle using opk didnt get a pos opk next thing he is talking about pcos and weorrying me to death. turns out i have a very short window for getting a pos opk.

my donor now is great, he doesnt have a clue about all the ins and out, io just let him know when i want him and he produces the goods.

 

[LunaBean]

Yeah mines is like that too, best way to be!!

 

[Nimyra]

yeah, I think the donors should leave all the fertility stuff to us, and just show up when requested.

I'm doing pretty good, have put on tons of weight, but feeling all right. Suffering a bit from SPD (pelvic pain), but physical therapy is helping. I'm hoping this baby comes early (in the next week or two would be terrific!). Yes, definitely excited and ready to move on to the next bit!

 

[doglover888]

Thanks all for your advice about donors. I'm just not ready to go the free donor yet. I did finally find that group on yahoo and they all seem too seedy. And none in my area anyway. But I may revisit that soon.

I was wanting some advice from any of you that have taken clomid. I have taken it for the last 3 cycles. 1st cycle 50 mg, then 100 mg the last 2 cycles. Anyway, this cycle my period still hadn't come at 14 days since my insemination so I was thinking this might be the month. But I started on Sunday at 15 days post insem. But it only lasted like an hour and then some spotting the rest of the day and then nothing. I mean it was really a light period. So I called the doc to see if clomid could cause light period. He wants me to come for blood test tomorrow to see if I'm preg. But I know I'm not. I took a hpt today and it was negative. It would have to be positive by now.

Have any of you had a similar experience with clomid?

Sandy