Intra-uterine insemination (IUI) is a less expensive treatment many couples will often try before pursuing IVF. It’s a fraction of the cost of an IVF cycle.
One other benefit to IUI is that it is partially covered under my health insurance. We paid 50% of the cost, with a limit of three IUI rounds.
Essentially, in this process, the nurse inserts “the goods” directly into my uterus. (And therefore bypassing the long journey the sperm have to make to get to the uterus when trying naturally.)
We were excited to give it a try! We had our first procedure in late November 2020.
It was a fairly simple process. I was on medication for a week or so to boost my egg production and then 36 hours before the procedure, I gave myself a shot in the stomach, triggering ovulation. For the most part, it was easy and painless.
When we arrived at the clinic, Nick did his duty, and then it was a short wait while they prepared the sample. They do something called a sperm wash that I don’t know a ton about, but it is an extra step before the procedure can start.
We went into the exam room together, and I lay on the table (with stirrups, of course). The nurse inserted a small tube, injected the goods, and instructed me to wait as she pulled a lever to raise my hips. We waited a few minutes, then she came back, handed us a post-procedure checklist, and told us to call if we got a positive pregnancy test in two weeks.
That was it. We didn’t hear from our doctor or nurse after that.
The procedure didn’t work, and, even though we were disappointed, we figured we had a couple more tries. We decided to space them out.
At this point, Nick wasn’t ready to think about IVF. I was wanting to put money back and start saving in case we had to go that route, but he didn’t want to hear about it. He was sure if we both started working out and got healthier, we could get pregnant on our own or with IUI.
We waited until February 2021 to try another round. Our luck was, unfortunately, the same.
We decided to give it another few months (to continue trying and to save up our portion of the cost). In September 2021, we were finally ready for our third and final round. The timing worked out that we had to skip a family wedding so we could be in town for the procedure.
I emailed the nurse to let her know we were ready to try again, and she called me soon after. Here’s an abbreviated and paraphrased version of that phone call:
Nurse: Dr. G. doesn’t want to authorize another IUI cycle.
Me: What?
Me (internally): Why can’t I stop seeing that stupid “Shut up and take my money” meme right now?
Nurse: She doesn’t think your chances of success are that great. She’d like to set up a regroup appointment before she’ll authorize another round of IUI.
Me: Can we get that scheduled ASAP? We have rearranged important plans – like going to a family wedding – to be here to do this procedure, so we’d really like to do it.
Nurse: We’ll work to get this scheduled right away.
It’s important to note that IUI – as well as many other infertility treatments – is completely based on a woman’s cycle.
So, for IUI, I had to call in on the first day of my period to let them know my cycle had started. They would then send me a calendar with my next two weeks fully scheduled (medications, ultrasounds, injections, a “date night” [for real], etc.)
Sarcastic side note: If you’ve never had your sex life planned by strangers, you’re truly missing out.
All that to say, I had a pretty short window to have this regroup appointment if I wanted to have an IUI cycle that month.
We were able to meet with the doc the next day.
It was a quick appointment, and I was quite upset and frustrated at the end of it.
Essentially, Dr. G. told us our chances of success were only about 5% on the first try and less than 4% on the second try. She recommended we go see a urologist specializing in infertility.
I couldn’t fault her logic, but what I could fault her for was waiting nearly seven months after our second IUI and almost a full year after our first to let us know how poor our chances were and recommending we see a specialist.
Nick and I don’t know a ton about this whole process – we are not doctors. I have my sister’s experience to lean on, but we don’t know if we should be reaching out to the clinic after every procedure. They basically said reach out if you get pregnant, and I didn’t.
I was angry. We could’ve gone to see the specialist in any of the months between February and September. It felt like those were wasted months.
I’ll pick back up where this post leaves off in three weeks. Now is as good a time as ever to tell you about those big life events we were also going through during this process.
IVF That 