For hopeful parents who need a little help conceiving, natural cycle IUI is the least-invasive, most-affordable and simplest of all infertility treatments. It requires no fertility medications, and fertility doctor Jane Miller MD explains to her patients that this procedure requires two office visits at most and has only two requirements:
Timing for a natural cycle IUI
After Dr. Miller decides that a patient is a good candidate for natural cycle IUI, the patient receives instruction in the use of an over-the-counter ovulation predictor kit. When the patient experiences an LH surge, she is to call the office. The patient comes in for a sonogram on the day of the surge to document the size of the egg-containing follicle that will be ovulating and to assess the thickness and pattern of the endometrium, or uterine lining.
The findings on the sonogram will let Dr. Miller know if it is an appropriate time to perform the natural cycle IUI. If the time is right, the patient will return to the office for intrauterine insemination, or IUI, the following morning (if the surge was at night) or later that day (if the surge was in the morning).
How a natural cycle IUI works
If the patient has a husband or a male partner, he produces a semen specimen one hour before the IUI. The specimen is washed and prepared, then the sperm are gently injected into the uterus via a thin catheter that is placed through the cervix. If donor sperm is used, it is thawed and injected into the patient’s uterus in the same way.
The patient then rests on the exam table for 15 minutes. After that, she can go about her day as usual. A pregnancy test is performed two weeks later.
Contact us if you would like to schedule an appointment to learn more about natural cycle IUI.