Okay, so you don’t actually use a turkey baster, it is a little more high tech than that…also cleaner and more sterile! Phew!

My Google research on how to artificially inseminate at home gave me some options that did not require a utensil from my kitchen!

Here are the three most popular options:

The Cup and Syringe:

The cup and syringe are the most popular by far, and the least expensive.

The syringe can be purchased online at places such as Amazon (linked to photo above), or at a pharmacy – a baby medicine dispenser syringe is perfect and the 6ml will work. Or can be often picked up from a doctor’s office for free.

Advice I received from the online forums was that a baby food jar is the best “cup” because it’s easy to clean, easy to warm, and easier to handle than the plastic jars. These do not have to be sterilised, but do need to be clean.

The method for this is to receive the deposit fresh in the jar. Keep the jar connected to your skin for warmth for approximately 15 minutes while the goods to liquefy. Suck up the liquid in the syringe. Gently remove any air bubbles (as you see on TV, give it a tap, and slowly release the air). Then insert and very slowly push the contents as close as possible to the cervix. Remain with hips elevated for 30 minutes ideally.

Can use in conjunction with the Soft Cup below and not require the 30 minute hip elevation.

The Soft Cup:

The soft cup is a device usually used for containing a menstrual period. For AI this device can be used in two ways.

1. The deposit can be placed directly into the soft cup and then inserted to stay by the cervix for several hours. This one allows the goods to stay where they’re needed without a gravitational concern of them getting away.
2. It can also be used in conjunction with the cup and syringe as an after the goods have been deposited with the syringe, use the soft cup as a barrier for the next few hours so they stay in place. This method comes highly recommended by the AI forums out there.

The catch for Canadians? The soft cup is not available at pharmacies, or department stores, and difficult to find (or ridiculously expensive) online.

In my search, I found that at WalMart in the US, you could buy a box of 6 for under $5, and a box of 14 for around $10… to buy that same item in Canada on Amazon.ca best offer was $59 for the box of 14, up to $255 for a box of 24 (I kid you not)!! Someone is making some money off these – I understand the appeal of a small mark up – but over $200? Shame on them.

Also note: you cannot use the Diva cup in place of these disposable soft cups. The reason is that the Diva cup is too deep and will not hold the little swimmers close enough to the cervix. That is why the soft cups are so popular, they’re the only option shallow enough to work for this purpose.

The Stork:

There is an insemination kit called The Stork (clever name) that uses the same premise as the soft cup but has a one-time use applicator for this purpose. It’s expensive at over $100 for a one use applicator, but takes some of the guesswork out of the positioning of the soft cup. If you only need it once and it does the trick, then the price-line is not that bad at all.

Most of the forums, however, said “don’t waste your money” because it’s really not necessary.

Other suggestions for the at home insemination include:

Pre-Seed:

This is a lubricant that many people on fertility forums swear by, which supposedly provides a safe and ideal environment in which the little guys can swim to their destination.

Many couples who are fertilising the natural way also use pre-seed to help the little swimmers get to the finish line.

However, there are equal number of comments on the forums that say this item is not necessary.

Then there are the suggestions for preparation:

We’re talking mood lighting, candles, music, and vibrators people!

(No photos for this one… use your imagination!)

Yes, people suggest these things to help the little guys find their target within a relaxed and satisfied vessel.

And the big “O” is an important part of the internal process, and helps the sperm find their way to their target.

Other suggestions:

During my research I found that there were several special herbal teas to prepare the body that some people swear by, vitamins, foods, daily routines, basal temperature thermometers, and of course the ovulation kits.

Ovulation Kits:

I purchased one that has 100 ovulation sticks and 20 pregnancy tests. The cost was minimal for the number of tests that I received and I’m glad to have the extra!

Unfortunately, I discovered after purchasing this item that there is an ovulation kit that you can use again and again that uses saliva rather than peeing in a cup. Now I wish I’d bought that one instead!

There is no cup in the kit that I bought, but I was assured by the knowledgeable ladies on the forums that any clean and dry cup will do – again the baby food jar was suggested as a good option. I did not have one of those yet, so I used one of my stemless wine glasses. That’s right, if you ever have a glass of wine at my house you may be drinking from a glass I peed in!  

(Oh relax! It’s been cleaned in my dishwasher on high heat…so it’s clean! And, yes, I should get myself a baby food jar or two!)

For 7 days in a row I started my day by peeing on my hand. Even on day 7 while I had become much more skilled at getting the pee in the cup, I still would have a dribble or two on my hands. Sigh. Not the most magical part of the process at all!

Still, it was exciting to see the ovulation day visible on the stick… much later than I imagined it to be too.

So that’s a little of the how.

More to follow…

Have you had success using any of these tools for AI?

Warm smiles and Love,