Any hope with ICI at home?

[SaritaMarina]

I've been with my girlfriend for 5 years. We want to have a baby.. We live average life styles with average pay. Young, and very ready for this journey.

We tried the first time, with an IUI with my regular doctor. We didn't time it right and it was a negative.

Second time, we did an ICI at home with right timing, and it wasn't successful either.

For the third, we decided to go to someone who knows what they're doing. I go to the seminar, make an appointment, and the OBGYN told us what we can do, and how easy this whole thing would go. She tells me to call my insurance company to see what they cover.

I call. They cover nothing because I have a female partner and I haven't been exposed to sperm for 6 months with no success.

IUI Sperm- $800

Insemination- $600

Ultrasound for Insemination- $1,000

3 Blood Tests- $900

$3,200/per try, per month. They expect me to pay $12,800 before they cover me. This is insane when a normal couple can do this for free as many times as they want.

If I continue to do this at home, is there any hope that it will take?? My girlfriend isn't a professional, and doesn't know how to do an IUI but an ICI is simplier, so we're hoping if we use 2 vials it will work better?

Has anyone actually gotten pregnant by doing it themselves with an ICI??
 

[rainbowbaby12]

My girlfriend and I are trying our first at home insemination soon. On baby and bump there were lesbian couples who conceived on their first try and others on their third. Relax, don't stress, and remember this is a special time for you and your partner. Good luck and many baby wishes to you!

[seraf]

My oldest was conceived on the third try with ICI at home. It is possible.

Call around on those prices and that protocol tho. Ask if there is a cash price. We got a discount that way (when my partner started trying, we couldn't pin down ovulation) and the ultrasound for inseam was only $79. She didn't get blood tests at that point but did get a trigger shot.

Good luck.

[SaritaMarina]

That gives me a little hope. I've been working on this project since January 2011.. calling people, gathering information and its real discouraging that I can't seem to get this done. In January I called and again, they made it sound simple. Then they told me no coverage till I get insurance. I finally hit enrollment period 6 months later, get coverage. I try the 2 inseminations and they are both huge let downs. Christmas was around the corner so I waited, and now the clinics are telling me that same sex couples are not covered. This information was a huge shock and I felt I was at square 1 again, trying to figure out when and how this was all going to go down. I'm doing one last call to another clinic and if that doesn't work, I have no choice but to continue at home and with the sperm being frozen it males me nervous because they have limited mobility and done right, sperm is allowed to have a Sprint rather than a full blown journey to the egg..

Last ICI, I laughed most of it out accidently and needless to say I was beginning to be in pain lying with my hips raised for 2 hours.. but yeah that's my situation and my patience are running thin

[rs11]

Lots of people get pregnant with ICI at home. You have to make certain that the timing is right and that you're actually ovulating. If there's any doubt about that, you can go see your OB/GYN; your insurance should cover that, because suspected anovulation is considered a disease. You might also want to consider some of the fertility drugs to help increase your chance. Clomid and such are cheap. (I think I paid $4 a month for clomid, and my tamoxifen was $6.)

Also, the cost of that IUI is outrageous; ours only cost $248. Look around until you find a clinic that will accept lesbian couples. The three times you've tried at home should count towards half of that six months, as long as you can prove you bought the sperm.

Finally, I know it's hard, but try to be patient. It can take straight couples a while to conceive, and they have access to lots of sperm!

[CascadiaMama]

I'd also look into finding a local midwife who might do an IUI when you determine the timing via charting (or, a midwife who will show your partner how to do that at home). We did home-IUI (without medical oversight; just read up as much as we could, and were exceedingly careful. We did see a midwife for other reasons - my cycles were wacky - but just told her we were doing IUIs at home, and she didn't bat an eye). It worked on our fourth overall try (first one was ICI, last three were IUI. The first IUI was HORRIBLY timed, though; like 10 days before I ovulated, thanks to those insane cycles, so we don't really count that one).

But getting a BFP on our 3rd/4th try still puts us in the 'very lucky' camp. Hang in there! 

[DesertSunsets]

My wife is pregnant thanks to at-home ICI inseminations.  It worked on our fifth try, though I think it should be mentioned that they were not all well-timed.  We used two vials per cycle, and the one that took (we are pretty confident) was actually using a vial of washed sperm intended for IUI that we used to inseminate intracervically.  

As others have mentioned, it's entirely possible.  If everything is in working order, it will work if you can get your timing down.  

Another suggestion would be to shop around for sperm banks; we're like you guys in that we don't bring in a ton of money so we couldn't afford to buy many vials from several of the higher priced banks.  We ended up going through Northwest Cryobank.  Also, Midwest Sperm Bank has lower prices.  

Good luck!