So Many Questions

[Ashley Stephens]

I have two boys and would like to try for a girl, my husband and I will need to use a sperm bank this time since he is no longer able to have kids.  I have never done this this before and i have to say we are both nervous how will we know what to do and how to do it... any help would be greatly appreciated. 

[pokeyAC]

Well, I guess first you need to pick a bank.  Then you get your doctor to sign off, pick a donor and track your cycle.  There are many wonderful banks out there and they all offer slightly different features.  You can look through their donors and what they offer on their websites.  The ones I am familiar with are The Sperm Bank of California (We used them.), Xytex, Fairfax, Northwest, California Cryobank.  To get a long profile and photo, you usually need to purchase those from the bank.  Xytex has a flat fee that lets you access all profiles and photos online for a set amount of time.  They also have adult photos.  Some banks will do photo matching for you. If you give them a photo of your husband, they will find a donor who looks most like him.  If you live near a bank, you can pick up the vials, otherwise they will have to be shipped to you.  You have to register with the bank to become a recipient.  Most banks require a doctor or medical professional to sign a form saying you are ok to receive the sperm.  When you pick a donor and are ready to start, you call them to place your order for the month and have it shipped or readied for pick up.  It is very important to track your cycle closely so that you can pinpoint your time of ovulation as closely as possible because frozen sperm does not survive in your body as long as fresh does.  Many people do 2 inseminations about 12 hours apart to cover all their bases.  Good Luck!

[prettyisa]

Pokey covered most of it--one note is that Northwest doesn't require a doctor sign-off, if that's something that you want to avoid. If you are trying to guarantee a girl, the only thing you can do is IVF--they can do a gender screen when they are checking the embryos for genetic disorders. Some places won't do that for you, since it's pretty distasteful, but I think it's actually getting to be more common. http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/medical_examiner/2012/09/sex_selection_in_babies_through_pgd_americans_are_paying_to_have_daughters_rather_than_sons_.html
Good luck!

[granolamommie]

I am in the same situation. We are trying to decide if we should use frozen sperm at home the first cycle with a back to back insemination and then use iui if the first time doesn't take- non medicated, then the third time we would use a trigger

[bigfoot]

Originally Posted by granolamommie 

I am in the same situation. We are trying to decide if we should use frozen sperm at home the first cycle with a back to back insemination and then use iui if the first time doesn't take- non medicated, then the third time we would use a trigger

You might price check first. A single IUI has a higher success rate than two ICI inseminations, and for us a vial of sperm was more than twice the price of an IUI.

[granolamommie]

Hmm- thanks!