At-home insemination: Tips and Procedure

We have put together a few tips for getting pregnant using the at-home insemination. We will also explain the exact process and what you need to pay attention to.

What is at-home insemination?

At-home insemination helps you get pregnant without having penetrative sex. The sperm donor, be it your partner, an anonymous donor or a co-parent, masturbates and collects the sperm in a cup. Of course, the sperm can also be collected directly in the syringe or a menstrual cup. However, this requires practice. The sperm is then inserted into the vagina.

Who is the at-home insemination suitable for?

The at-home insemination is not only suitable for couples who are in a lesbian relationship or have an infertile partner, but also for couples who are under a lot of pressure and have a reduced desire to have sex around ovulation in order to get pregnant. The at-home insemination is also suitable for single mothers or co-parents.

However, if the sperm donor is not part of the couple’s relationship, legal questions still remain open, since in Germany the father must first be identified before a child can be adopted, for example.

Our tips on what to look out for when doing at-home insemination

When using at-home insemination, it is important that the sperm cells are well protected and do not die before they reach the vagina. To do this, you should consider the following points:

1. The sperm should not come into contact with oxygen.
2. The sperm should not cool down.
3. The sperm should under no circumstances come into contact with water!

Tip 1: Protect sperm from oxygen

To protect the sperm from oxygen, you should use a cup that can be completely closed. It should also not take too long to draw it into the syringe.

Tip 2: Keep sperm warm

If you want to insert the sperm with a syringe, you should wait about 10 minutes, as the state of the ejaculate changes during this time and you can draw it up more easily. During this time, it is very important that the sperm do not cool down! So keep them warm, for example with your body heat.

Tip 3: Protect sperm from water

Make sure that the sperm do not come into contact with water. The cup, syringe, menstrual cup or fingers should be absolutely dry!

The procedure of at-home insemination

With at-home insemination, there are different ways in which the sperm can be introduced into the vagina:

• with the fingers
• with a syringe
• in a menstrual cup
• with an insemination cap

The best position to get pregnant doing at-home insemination is lying on your back. It is best to place a pillow under your bottom so that the sperm can reach the uterus through gravity and stay in this position for half an hour.

How likely is it to get pregnant doing at-home insemination?

Unfortunately, there are no meaningful studies that show how likely it is to get pregnant doing at-home insemination. With penetrative sex with ejaculation, the probability per cycle is just under 30%. Since at-home insemination is a bit more complex than conventional sex, it is worth monitoring your cycle using the symptothermal method so that you know when your most fertile days are. To do this, monitor your cycle (temperature + cervical mucus or cervix) and enter your observations in a fertility app, such as the ovolution app. It will help you to apply the NFP rules and determine your fertile window.

If you are unsure about the cycle analysis and do not know when your highly fertile phase begins, please feel free to contact us. We will help you to better understand your cycle and find the best possible time for insemination.