When to move on from IUI

Question

How many times should IUI be attempted before moving on to IVF? Really just wanting to get some input from others who understand and or have been through it since I don’t know anyone personally who’s gone through this like I am. We’ve had 2 failed IUIs so far.

Answer

I only did 1 iui. For me it was around 1k a round. I new our chances with iui was 15 percent maybe. With IVF our dr gave us a 80 percent chance of getting pregnant. So after 1 round iui we went straight to IVF. Currently 24.5 weeks pregnant with twin boys on our first IVF round fresh ! Sending you many prayers and baby dust!

Answer

Hi Samantha, i got pregnant my second lUI so it can happen! I will keep my fingers crossed. Wishing you baby dust.

Answer

I just did my 2nd IUI and if this doesn’t work I am going to talk to my Dr about Ivf. The sperm count for the procedure was just over 4 million so it was incredibly low. I’m glad they still let me do the procedure with those low of numbers. When we did my first IUI my dr said like like to do at least 3 IUIs before moving to ivf. With the numbers my husband produces though I don’t think an IUI is gonna be successful.

Answer

I did 5 iui's and am finally starting ivf this month. I live in ontario, Canada so I had told be put on a list for ivf which I was on for almost a year; from first phone call to this month. So I had time to keep trying iui's. We have unexplained fertility. So during my iui's sperm and mature follicle count was good, so why not keep trying I guess. In hindsight I wish I would have not put myself through the stress of 5. But oh well, my time has come to start ivf! Good luck on your journey!

Answer

We did 4 IUIs. It was supposed to be 5 but the fifth got cancelled. We then moved onto IVF with ICSI.  It’s really a personal/ financial choice. We did so many IUIs for two reasons, 1, they were covered by insurance and IVF wasn’t, and 2, we weren’t ready to accept we needed IVF to conceive. We did IVF in November of last year and are doing our first FET 2/7. We wound up with 4 day 5 embryos frozen. 
I wish we did move to IVF sooner as it’s just been such a long and heartbreaking process.

Answer

We met with our RE today to make a plan moving forward... we started one cycle of iui last month, but had to cancel due to issues with my uterus and needed and MRI. 
Our calculated chance for iui working is 8%, and IVF is 62%. Our insurance does have coverage for both, and no requirements as to what comes first. However, there is a lifetime maximum dollar amount for coverage. I am 32, have had 2 uterine fibroids removed, have an arcuate, VERY tilted uterus. Our main issue is male factor. Our RE said we could do a round of iui if we wanted, but that his recommendation would be ivf sooner rather than later. We definitely don’t want to do multiple rounds of iui, with the possibility of getting to IVF and not have any our allotted insurance coverage $ left. Also, the 8% success chance is not very encouraging. 
We are going to pray over it for the next few days and decide. So far it seems like IVF is a no brainer, but I’m honestly feeling really overwhelmed going there already. It all seems really daunting right now. Any advice?

Answer

It really depends. Our RE thinks we should try half a dozen or so, as my husband has ZERO sperm count so really, we had NO chance of falling pregnant at all until we started using donor sperm. So even though we’ve been ‘trying’ for 20 months, we’ve actually only ‘tried’ with any possibility of success, twice. 
I think it has a lot to do with what your obstacles are. Good luck! 🍀

Answer

Do you know why you aren't getting pregnant? I did three iui's, which all failed. We still didn't have a reason for my infertility so we ended up doing diagnostic laparoscopy and found out I have endometriosis and my tubes are blocked. So the only thing that will work is IVF. I think 3 IUI's are my max I would do, but I wish I had known my issues sooner and I could have saved my money for IV F.

Answer

Are they covered by insurance?

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I’m curious to see the responses too. With our doctor our plan is 3 IUI cycles then moving on to IVF. Everyone is different- I know some people move on to IVF sooner. For me, I’d rather give IUI a 3rd try if we need bc it’s less intense but I can completely understand someone wanting to move on to IVF sooner due to higher success rates. Are they changing things between cycles to increase your chances? That made me feel better about staying w IUI

When to move on from IUI

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