Artificial Insemination Kit guide
When Adam Hooper first started donating in 2014 he knew nothing about women’s fertility, he just presumed the women did? What he didn’t realize was that most women spent their whole life up until this point trying to avoid falling pregnant.
For the first 2 years it was all just trial and error, google said this, google said that, “OK let’s give that a shot”. It also didn’t help that some Ovulation predictor Kits were promising 4 full fertile days of trying, which back then no one was smart enough to realize that this was just a marketing campaign to ensure you bought their product over another competitor.
We had many inexperienced newbie donors give up and quit from not getting any successful results. Mainly due to they had no clue and either did the women they helped on the best way of achieving a pregnancy. You see Artificial Insemination is different there have been no clear studies and money spent into researching it, there are many myths out there that people take as gospel, and then there are people that have been pregnant once whether that by sheer luck, or magical fertile powers gained from eating Mcdonalds golden fries. Point is some people like to think they’re experts after falling pregnant once, and in desperation and hope, we want to believe their words carry wisdom that will bring them the same luck.
The only way to get a true answer out there was to study some of the most prolific Ai donors around the world for example Simon Watson of UK over 900 Donor Children with a good strike rate of 300 first cycle successes with 2 decades of Ai experience. Donors of such experience had everything down to a fine art, and by picking their brains to achieve similar success rates was a very important process to understanding the key to pregnancy via an Ai donation.
From this knowledge accumulated since 2014 till now, we have been able to assemble our on Artificial Insemination Kits, for our Sperm Donation World communities so recipients don’t have to endure many cycles of inseminating incorrectly and feeling the disappointment with each failed cycle wondering and questioning if they were doing it right or wrong. Also, we didn’t want donors giving up and quitting because it was a lot of work for little to no reward. It is important for our community members to get the desired result of becoming pregnant as soon as they possibly can.
Since the first Sperm Donation World Ai Kits were created in 2018, the success rate ratio has picked up noticeably and we have had hundreds of births attributed to the use of the kit within that time. We’re always striving to continue to evolve and make improvements to further increase success rates in our kits with new technology and innovation.
In the past some people were stubborn to buy online and elected to use uncomfortable oral syringes to inseminate themselves with, now the kits have evolved with purposely designed Artificial Insemination Syringes with not only comfort but also practicality in mind.
There are some people who decide to purchase the kit at the last minute and then in a mad panic if it’s going to arrive in time. The thing about these kits is that they also for preparation and timing you should be purchasing the kit early on even before you have found a donor, for tracking purposes and getting more accurate data.
It’s with these further enhancements, we have decided to put the step by step instructions in Digital form, making it a little more environmentally friendly by saving a tree yearly in paper amount. Some of the kits are more advanced than others. So if you have a more basic kit, some steps can be skipped, but obviously the largest kit could put more odds in your favour.
Instructions:
Step 1: Preparation: Your body is a temple and how you treat it will go a long way in achieving how effective this kit will be, because if you don’t produce good eggs then you won’t fall pregnant. So as of this point in time, it’s about making lifestyle changes improving diet, simple things such as cutting out fizzy drink, and replacing it with water. Taking Fertility supplements and vitamins some local brand’s ingredient purity isn’t as good as iherb products, I personally like to buy local when I can but pregnancy is too important to mess around with inferior products. In previous kits, there was a Folate supplement but now it’s best to order online, most orders arrive in a week online from iherb.
Step 2: Understanding your cycle and the terminology: Day 1 of your cycle is when your Menstruation starts, this doesn’t mean spotting it’s the actual flow. Every female is different, just because you may have been on the pill that regulates your fake cycle to 28 days doesn’t mean you will be at 28 days off the pill. Most women with regular cycles can range from 25 days to 36 days. If you’re finding your cycle inconsistent you may need to seek a specialist, there may be an issue like PCOS that might require some attention in regulating or may require some natural vitamin/supplements to help regulate.
Step 3: Tracking and Logging your cycle: There is an abundance of Apps on the market for android and iPhone to choose from, a new up and comer is Premom that you can upload photos of your ovulation test strips and it detects your fertility level. Other apps are Glow, Clue Period Tracker, Fertility Friend, Ovia Fertility, and Flo to name a few. Download a couple and see which one works for you. A good app should track your Cervical Mucous description (CM), BBT Thermometer temp recordings, and of course your fertility window.
Step 4: Fertility self-test: We have women of all ages in our community and some women go through early menopause, while others always think they can delay it a few more months before they get more serious. You may not have as much time on your side as you think you may have. Many people don’t get their egg quality checked for some time as it’s time and effort that they haven’t really invested themselves into. Women’s fertility is harder to understand than men’s, There are a few other indicators to check female Anti-Mullerian Hormone levels, Trans-vaginal Ultrasounds for example that are for more sophisticated than a sperm analyses, without as much clarity.
However, in some of the Sperm Donation World Kits, there will be a Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH) test strip designed to analyze your body’s control of the ovaries’ production of eggs. This test should ideally be done on day 2 or 3 of your cycle, first urine of the morning. Catch the first pee in a cup and dip the test strip for up to 10 seconds while ensuring you don’t immerse past the MAX line. Leave on a non-absorbent surface eg. on the mouth of the sterile cup container. Read the result within 10 minutes. A positive result is measured at 25mIU/mL sensitivity which can indicate a transition to menopause/pre-menopause it may also indicate loss of ovarian function and polycystic ovary syndrome. If you get a positive reading you should go seek fertility advice right away and also strongly consider getting a move on in the process of baby-making.
Step 5: Basel Body Temperature: In some of the Sperm Donation World kits a bbt thermometer is included. This is different from a normal thermometer for instance let’s say your temp is saying 36.5 degrees with a bbt thermometer it measures with another decimal, eg. 35.56 degrees, the extra tenth is important for data input in your app. I won’t go in too much detail about tracking as the tracking app should automatically do it for you and indicate when you may be ovulating, but usually, a shift in temp by 0.4 degrees can indicate incoming egg release.
Tips for most accurate results are to try and do it the same time every morning, usually set your alarm for when you wake up and leave your bbt thermometer on your bedside table next to your phone so you don’t forget. You can take your reading Orally, Vaginal or Rectal, pick one and stick to it, just make sure you put it in the exact same spot eg. depth-wise. Record the result into your app straight away, so you don’t forget.
Step 6: Fertility of the donor: A Lot of people waste a lot of time with a possibley infertile donor that has not gone and had a sperm analysis done or a very outdated one, included in some of the kits is a sperm test to check for a fertile range. Male fertility can be very temperamental things such as diet and the donor taking vitamins and supplements can make a considerable difference. Some donors have had children in a more fertile time in their life and some have gotten lucky, so for peace of mind this self-test kit is good for some reassurance. Instructions for the test are found in the pdf below.
Step 7: Pin Pointing Ovulation: With Ai donations timing is even more critical and needs to be precise in comparison to the Ni alternative. Your new app you downloaded that you been tracking with, that fertility window predictor isn’t going to cut it. In fact, your fertility window in your app is really just your rough guide as to when to start ovulation testing. For various reasons you may ovulate early or late in a cycle, your fertile window in the app does not mean you’re fertile it means you could be potentially fertile and the only way to know for sure is to dip your opk strip in your wee sample and follow the instructions on the sealed pack.
If you have no App data yet and this is your first cycle of trying to follow your ovulation dates it’s best to start tracking at day 9 as a precautionary measure. Included in the kits are the ovulation test strips (The brands may vary due to stock availability and importation restrictions). Essentially they’re looking at your Luteinizing hormone (L.h) levels to indicate a surge that you will be ovulating, while most women will receive strong lines, not everyone reaches peak colouration their L.H surge levels don’t reach peak heights, so you will need to work out what is a peak for you based on the darkest colouration you get from your tests. Many people keep their used test strips and buy a diary and label dates, times and cycle day number etc. So they can use it as a reference over as many cycles that it takes. That Premom app also allows you to store images of your test strips.
Everyone’s body and reading levels are different some people digital brands work well for them and for others they don’t, in your first few months of testing especially you should be using a digital opk (not included in kits) and the ovulation strips. It’s good to test with one in the morning and the other one in the afternoon, to see what works for you and to also capture any transition in your surge. But be careful products such a clear blue have gimmicks to try and make themselves feel more appealing than their competitors so you buy their product. For instance the word “High Fertility” representing a flashy smiling face, the word high is not accurate it should really mean get ready a solid smiley should be coming soon. Resist the temptation of getting a donation while on a flashing smiley as it only represents the estrogen hormone, not the Lh surge that triggers ovulation, like your fertility app a flashing smiley is just a pre-warning.
In saying this though it’s important to keep testing after a peak test, day and night until it fades. Once your OPK begins the fade it indicates you have likely ovulated and the LH vacates your body. The importance of this is to know if you’re a quick ovulater and how critical a donation is ASAP from a peak, as you also don’t want to miss the egg drop most people though will have 12 to 36 hours to hopefully get a couple of inseminations done.
Step 8: Arranging the Donation Time: Coordinating your timing and updating your donor throughout the cycle is the most important part of ensuring donor availability and successful outcome. You should always tell your donor when you’re on day 1 of your cycle, a donor needs to know if you require to try again next cycle ASAP, if he doesn’t hear from you he may take on a new person to help and you might be ovulating at the same time as each other. From studying your app give him your forecast dates by taking screenshots of your fertile window and predicted ovulation date that will give him an indication of when you require him so he can note down in his calendar/diary. A good donor will never make you lock in a date in-advance. Instead, you will tell him the dates you’re gonna start testing (when your fertile window starts), and each day update him with a photo of your test strip, so you can both monitor the transition, and then when it’s at a point when peak fertility reading kicks in, you will meet that day or night for the donation. If you’re doing a donation at a hotel never pre-book a hotel it creates too much anxiety and hormone imbalance which could delay your cycle, always book online via these sites for good availability and cheapest prices. Keep doing donations until your test strips start to fade. A peak should last up to 2 days, and a donor should only be donating to you for 2 days if you predicted your peak correctly.
Step 9: Insemination Tools of the trade: The Specimen Cups and Artificial Insemination Syringes. The Syringes and the Specimen Cups are intended for single-use, although some people reuse the specimen cups for urine for their ovulation test strips. Obviously plastic degrades and BPAs ain’t ideal for sperm to be in contact with, not everyone sterilizes properly and sperm coming into contact with water isn’t good either. It’s always a good idea to use fresh syringes and cups for sperm and not risk jeopardizing your chances for that current cycle.
Depending on your donor’s reliability, availability, and his ability to produce a reasonable size sample (some vitamins and supplements such as zinc can enhance volume) it has been tweaked over the years on what increases best chances of Ai, as there have never been any official studies done on this. The highest success rate patterns have been when a fresh, strong recent donation is there just before the egg is released and while we don’t exactly know when egg drop happens the trick is having a donation every 10-12 hours until the ovulation test strips fade ensuring the likelihood of a strong energetic sperm ready to pounce on the egg. Sperm once exposed to oxygen and light are weakened so, therefore, their longevity and strength is compromised that is why a fresh batch of sperm at the very least once a day is optimal and that’s why I reiterate timing is essential for Ai donations so don’t receive one to early either.
You will read on various forums that sperm can still be alive an hour outside a body that is true, but with each passing minute they’re weakened and while they can live with strength for several hours within a females body if inseminated quickly it’s the damage that is done outside of the body that can affect their overall life span and strength to actually swim all the way to the egg and penetrate through it.
Your donor will meet you at the agreed destination, some women have just left a specimen cup in a bathroom and left them to it. You need to be more accommodating than that, even offering a chair for the donor to use, the more comfortable a donor is can also reflect in his sample size. It can also be hard to hold a cup and ejaculate into it standing it up , which also could lead to misfiring not all going into the cup. So be accommodating ask your donor if he requires a chair, leave some soap for him to wash his hands etc.
That being said you have now received the donation in the cup. If you have been one of those people googling away or reading forums you may have come across conflicting information out there on waiting for the sperm to liquefy. The theory of waiting for the sperm to liquefy is they believe it is easier to suck the sperm up in the syringe with fewer air bubbles being trapped into it. Air bubbles are considered a problem because under a microscope it appears that the sperm think this an egg and they’re desperately consuming all their energy trying to pierce through this bubble.
The trick is to make sure you’re ready for insemination to ensure you’re stimulated and ready to go before extracting the sperm up. There are 2 ways of doing this by pulling the plunger out of the syringe you can then pour the sperm very carefully from the cup into the syringe but there will be air pressure behind the sperm when putting the plunger back in which if you push it too far in can force the sperm to shoot out across the room and that is no good for anyone. With the new Artificial Insemination syringes sucking up the sperm by pulling the plunger back seems much easier and fewer air bubbles than what you would get an oral syringe. Even if you get air bubbles don’t worry about it just inseminate it quickly so the sperm don’t have time to tire themselves out.
If the sperm hasn’t liquefied by the time you’re ready to inseminate that is great. A donor’s consistency could depend on diet, dehydration, and can also liquefy quicker based on temperature. Mother nature’s intention for the sperm when released is for it to be sticky the whole reason behind this is so it hits the cervical wall and the semen gets stuck to the cervix and the sperm just swim in. If it’s liquidized it has less chance of achieving that and the semen can quickly slide down the vaginal walls.
This goes in conjunction as to why many people (also a study was done) believe once you have inseminated to prop yourself up on pillows so gravity keeps the sperm on that cervical wall allowing them quicker and safer passage on their egg hunt. It can be beneficial to orgasm before to release more sperm-friendly bodily fluid, but perhaps more practical to orgasm after insemination as the cervix dips and contracts and can be used as a vacuum to suck the sperm up in through the cervix.
As I keep mentioning every woman’s body is different and the cervix can be on different angles, you need to feel where the cervix is prior and before inserting the syringe in. You want to try and angle the syringe in as deep as possible and as close as the cervix as possible. The new Artificial insemination syringes are narrower and longer that allow this to be done more comfortably and accurately. If you have purchased a kit without a speculum or soft cup then using the syringe as a plug for 10 minutes in beneficial in helping to prevent leakage.
Step 10: Pinpointing the sperm through the eye of the needle: As you read in the last step inserting the syringe on the right angle is an art in itself, a penis is designed to curve to the walls of the vagina and ejaculate close on the cervix. Where a syringe doesn’t have that ability to bend and you don’t have that ability to see where you’re squirting the sperm to how do you know you’re hitting that hot spot? So in 2018, Adam Hooper embarked on researching Speculums and speaking to women all around the world who had been using them for at-home insemination. The results from these findings have now dictated their inclusion into some of the Ai Kits and syringe packs.
The Speculum, Sperm Donation World provides is an L.E.D lighted torch one that allows you clear vision of the cervix, when used with the narrow longer specifically designed Ai Syringe it allows you to pin point the exact spot on the cervix. This enhances your chances so much more by the effectiveness ensuring all motile sperm will be able to enter through the cervix .
When we think speculum we think pap smear and then we think how uncomfortable they’re, normally you’re ain’t stimulated when seeing a doctor so it can be quite discomforting when they insert it so referring back to the previous step ensure you’re stimulated insert the speculum and open it up. A speculum is obviously easier to use if you have a partner or another person to assist but can be done with the assistance of a mirror if self inseminating is your only option. Take the speculum out after 10 minutes.
Unlike the Syringes and Cups the Speculum can be sterilized and reused as the sperm shouldn’t be coming into contact with the device.
Step 11: Keeping the sperm pressed against the Cervix: The Soft cup method: In the past some people have gotten their donor to donate directly into the soft cup and then they insert it up against the cervical wall. Many reports of spilling the semen in the cup while trying to insert it has been detrimental and donors have more difficulty donating and aiming into a soft cup than they experience holding a sterile cup.
The best results have been using a syringe to inseminate getting that propulsion on to the cervix and then inserting the soft cup in. All vaginas are different and some experience sperm leakage more than others, a soft cup is good for retaining and pressing that sperm close to the cervix, especially if you need to be active and go out and continue your daily errands. Many people also sleep with them in. Some people cheap out and buy for instance a diva cup, this is the most stupid thing you can do and it’s illogical. A Diva cup is designed for catching blood and it’s rubbery and deep. So you put sperm in there it’s trapped on the bottom of the cup and it can’t get into the cervix, it becomes more of contraception than a conception aid. Click here for more info here
Spread the Labia apart and finding the opening to the vagina, pinch the cup back towards your tailbone (Not straight up), push the cup into where you believe your cervix is which would be as far as you can push in. Tilt the soft cup downward and back while inserting it, and then nudge the front of the rim upward, so it hooks in up against the back of the pubic bone. It’s hard to explain but if the soft cup is in the right position you should no longer be able to feel it. The pink rim of the soft cup is made of a heat-sensitive material, so it will adjust to your unique body shape. The soft-cup works by sealing to the vaginal walls. Leave the cup in for at least 4 hours, and it’s alright to sleep with it in. It’s hard to explain so watch the videos.
Step 12: The wait begins: Otherwise known as the 2 week wait, where time seems to go more slower than a corona virus lock down isolation. The Ai Kit’s will come with a number of pregnancy tests, that are done in the same way as the FSH strips and Ovulation strips. Try and least wait 10 days post ovulation before testing, you got to give the sperm time to fertilize the egg for the egg to travel and latch onto the uterine wall and develop enough HCG to register positive lines. Best to do tests with the first urine of the morning.
Conclusion: So that’s it, this guide is the most accurate guide to date for your best chance of achieving a successful Ai successful pregnancy. Here at Sperm Donation World, we’re always analyzing different tips and tricks, then working out if they’re myths or facts and the updating our kits accordingly.
Whether you’re from our community in Australia, New Zealand, Philippines, United Kingdom, USA, or anywhere else in this world I hope this guide can you give a baby and be sure to check out the products page to get your kit sent out asap.