How did I decide when to step up from artificial insemination to IVF? My case | A 38-year-old's struggle with fertility treatment

Click here for my self-introduction

Click here for my AIH (artificial insemination) records

Well, my two AIH (artificial insemination = just injecting sperm) attempts were unsuccessful, and I was thinking about what to do for the third one.

While AIH offers a chance at pregnancy that is as close as possible to natural conception (it just injects concentrated sperm directly into the uterus with almost no other assistance), if your natural fertility is declining, doing it many times has little meaning (in the first place, most people who can get pregnant via AIH do so by the 3rd or 4th attempt, and those who cannot, will not get pregnant no matter how many times they try).

I was hesitant about whether to try AIH one more time.

My thoughts were:

• If I could get pregnant with one more AIH, it would be inexpensive

• Stepping up to IVF would be a much bigger undertaking (more clinic visits, higher medication costs, anesthesia, surgery, etc.)

These were the main points, and I was wavering.

However, my husband is a martial artist, and his matches were scheduled around the time of the next ovulation for my third treatment. It seemed unlikely we would be able to obtain fresh sperm (sperm taken that very day) (I wanted to avoid it because, before a match, he is under mental stress, cutting weight, dehydrating, and his nutrition is poor), so we took this opportunity to step up to IVF.

It felt like a waste to freeze sperm in advance for AIH (freezing for personal convenience is not covered by insurance and is expensive), but I figured it might be okay for IVF? It was a vague decision, but,

“I wish I had stepped up sooner”

I saw this opinion quite often online, so it was enough of a trigger for me.

Looking back, since I was 38, I think it was better to step up early rather than sticking with AIH.

To summarize,

• Both husband and wife are young with no obvious illnesses or symptoms

• No abnormalities found after testing

• Have never had ovulation checked at a clinic

• Don't know why we can't get pregnant

• Have only tried fertility tracking using apps like Luna Luna

Unless you fit all of the above, it seems best to step up early after trying AIH 2 or 3 times.

Next time, I will finally talk about my first IVF experience.

To be continued

******
Wife 38 & Husband 29 couple
4 cycles of timed intercourse
2 cycles of AIH
3rd egg retrieval: zero blastocysts
Decided to change clinics