Artificial Insamination

From our own journey, AI has been amazing.. Pregnant with first insemination. The doctors at Vitalab are of course quite negative about it, they even state on their website that it has no place in modern medicine.. But it worked for me and one of my friends tried IVF 4 times, no success.. Pregnant on the first try with AI. Second baby also AI and now she's pregnant again with a miracle baby - no medical intervention. It's your journey.. Do your research, and don't let anyone talk you into something you've not comfortable with.. Or that you can't afford!

evening ladies thank you for the helpful advise ,much appreciated we have gone 4 testing ...we have UNEXPLAINED INFERTILITY ...what ever that is
we planning on seeing a specialist at Pretoria East Hospital hopefully we will do AI by July ..

Praying for good news

Moring

Anney, I agree with Meisiekind. AI is definetly an optoin, but I would also advise to first see a specialist for proper testing. Myself and hubby wasted 2 years, because our first FS did not do proper testing.....actually never tested hubby at all and in the end my hubby had sperm issues as well.

Goodluck with the ttc journey.

Hi Anney001

I'm also in a similar boat than you. Will be 34 this year, have PCOS and have been TTC for the last 2 years to have another baby (always had hormonal issues, so having my son was really a miracle).

You didn't mention whether you've seen any specialists and whether you've been on some fertility treatment before. I'll tell you a little of the process we went through so far, in case you haven't been through anything similar.

After 5 months of having no cycles, I went to my gynae, who after 3 cycles of Fertomid referred me to a fertility specialist. He had a number of tests done on both myself and hubby to see what the situation is. The treatment first involved monitored cycles (scans on certain days of your cycle) on a double dose of Fertomid, and there after we gave it a couple of months of trying naturally with the help of Fertomid. Unfortunately we didn't have any success with that.

At the start of this year we decided to go for artificial insemination, however my FS advised that its probably a good idea to do a laparoscopy and hysteroscopy first to ensure that my tubes aren't blocked etc. He didn't find anything major, but did remove some endometriosis, which may have played a part in not having any success (it causes inflamation in the cavity where the eggs are released into and can have an effect on egg quality). Also separated my one tube from my intestines, although he doesn't believe that it would have been an issue.

After the recovery period we went for our first AI using only Fertomid. I had only 1 viable follicle, so the next cycle he prescribed Gonal-F injections too. Unfortunately the standard dose was too strong for me and caused overstimulation, so we had to cancel the cycle. He suggested that we convert the cycle into an IVF cycle due to the number of follicles I had (more than 10), however we just can't afford the minimum R25k price tag.

So we're now starting another attempt at AI on Fertomid and a lower dose of Gonal-F in the hope to have 2 - 3 good quality follicles this upcoming month.

My suggestion would be start with a good fertility specialist (if you don't have one already) and have both of you checked out first. AI is so much cheaper than IVF, so I really think that starting with AI first is a better option. I've heard of many success stories already. Also, even though IVF is the most successful method statiscally, you still only have a 30% chance in a single cycle for success, so there's a good chance that you may spend all that money and have nothing to show for it (not to mention the stress that it causes). However, if the costs aren't a factor for you, then perhaps it doesn't matter which option you choose.

I hope that you found something useful in my ramblings. Feel free to pop in on some of the other threads, particularly the Afrikaans one "Gesels saam op die pad na Swangerskap" have some more ladies who have been through these processes before.

Hope that you have some good news soon.

What are your views on that ....i mean i am 34 this year and I have PCOS i have been trying for the past 3-4 years and i am tired off having negative pregnancy test ....I want to have a BABY ....

Should i go for Artificial Insemination, or IVF