ICI At Home

Mommies1016Mommies1016 Posts: 7
in Ask California Cryobank

Hi there, my wife and I are planning to have a baby in the very near future (hopefully begin this month) and was wondering what the success rate is for at home ICI? We'd love to try to keep the process as personal and intimate as possible, as long as it is realistic for us to do ourselves.

Also, how long can the vial be in the tank that it is delivered in before we must use it? Can it be in the tank for a day or two before we take it out and thaw it?

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Comments

  • BeaBeaBeaBea Posts: 44
    edited February 3, 2018 5:48PM

    I tried at home ICI 4 times with no success. Everything appeared to be fine—I ovulated every month on a predicatable schedule. But unbeknownst to me, I was ovulating immature follicles. Only once I pursued IUI with ultrasounds and medication did I ever really have a chance of success. That said, I do know one person who succeeded her first try with at home ICI. The vials are good for 6 days after delivery, I believe, as long as you keep them in the tank all sealed up. Good luck!

  • cryo-admincryo-admin Posts: 4,547

    @Mommies1016 Welcome to Cryobank! We do have clients that inseminate at home, but we still require an A1 form signed by a medical professional before you can ship vials. Since the cost of vials and shipping can add up quickly, it's recommended to talk with your physician about exams or tests to make sure your body is ready for conception. As BeaBea pointed out, there could be something going on that might be preventing you from getting pregnant. Also, just in case you're interested in choosing a DNA Advantage Donor who has been tested for 260+ conditions, you may want to get genetic testing for yourself to make sure that you and your donor are compatible.

    Here are a few things to keep in mind with home inseminations:

    • We only provide the specimen & thawing instructions, so you would need to obtain a device to perform the insemination.
    • ICI vials are recommended for home inseminations as they contain the seminal fluid that helps the sperm travel to the uterus.
    • FedEx requires a signature for deliveries, but if you have a nearby FedEx location that has a hold for pickup option, you can call us to have it shipped to that location.
    • Our shipping tanks are validated for 7 days, so it's important to consider what day you're shipping it and when it will arrive. For example, if you choose the FedEx Economy option and want it to ship out on Thursday for arrival on Monday, that only give you 3 days to use it. Depending on your cycle timing, you may want to ship it with the FedEx Priority option to give you more time with the specimen.

    Over the years, we've also had some of our couples report positive experiences with using a licensed midwife to help them inseminate at home. And there are some physicians that will allow partners to "push the plunger" to release the sperm for their wife's IUI.

    In regards to success rates, there are so many variables involved in getting pregnant. Maternal age, use of fertility drugs, cycle timing, insemination timing, using donor sperm or partner sperm, etc. can all impact the outcome. (If you research success rates for IUIs, you're likely to see numbers as low as 8% and as high as 30% for women under 35.) In general, the American Society for Reproductive Medicine reports that each month that she tries, a healthy fertile 30-year old woman has a 20% chance of getting pregnant: http://www.reproductivefacts.org/globalassets/rf/news-and-publications/bookletsfact-sheets/english-fact-sheets-and-info-booklets/Age_and_Fertility.pdf

    We would love to see everyone get pregnant on their first try, but realistically we know it usually takes several cycles. If you have your heart set on a particular donor and don't want to consider anyone else, just please be sure to purchase and store several vials. We offer free storage with the purchase of 4 or more vials and have a 50% buyback option in case you have extra vials in storage. As you may have noticed from posts on the Bulletin Board, we have thousands of clients on our waiting list, hoping vials of their favorite donor will get sold back because they ran out of vials.

    I hope this information is useful and can help you plan ahead! Please don't hesitate to contact us with any questions.

    Regards,

    Nicole
    California Cryobank

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