looking for info

hi - i have a question - I've been reading alot about microsort which my husband and I may want to do for our next baby as we both really want the experience of having a daughter. I'm concerned though about how many people seem to talk about switching to IVF or saying you should start with IVF because it is unlikely you'll get pregnant with IUI. As I conceived naturally before with no problems -- I already feel trepidatious about doing this in the first place (perhaps also guilty, since so many people have problems and here I am desperate for a daughter). I can envision doing 3 IUI's in hopes of getting pregnant with a girl but I feel like if it didn't work, I would try naturally rather than doing IVF because something in me has trouble with that idea. I know alot of people who have had fertility problems and had to do IVF and it would be hard for me to 'voluntarily' do that -- is there not alot of hope for getting pregnant with a girl through IUI? it seems as I read over the boards that the news is discouraging. Is that my skewed view? or correct?

thanks for the help.

I think you have to look at it this way.  Lots of women can get pg first time with an IUI and some may take 2 or 3 times to get pg.  Some may not get pg at all through this method.  When you add up all the IUI trys it might take to get pg, you may end up spending the same amount as you would with one IVF treatment.  Yes, it is a hard decision to make.  With me, my answer was that my dh told me he would not be destroying or donating any embryos so we were not going the IVF route if we decided to do MS.  I felt confident that if we did try IUI I would fall pg because I am highly fertile, but realistically that might have not happened.  I think you need to look at the financial part of it and go from there.  Or you can say you will give it one or two trys and if nothing happens then you won't waste anymore time and move on to your next option.  Good luck with your decision.

Thank you -- I appreciate what you wrote and feel that I would want to do what I think you did which is to try IUI only. Can you tell me though, did it work for you? It sounds like it did and I'm new to the board so I'm not sure though probably others followed along your journey. I'm eager to hear someone who was fertile and decided to do IUI and succeeded -- just to know it happens. Thanks again.

Hi Stella,

I conceived very quickly as well, so I asked the Microsort dr. if that would increase my odds at being successful with IUI.  He said that it couldn't hurt, but they had no statistics to show that it would be any easier for me that anyone else.  The issue is that the dh sperm get spun and goes from something like 300million all the way down to a few hundred thousand.  So they are really doing major major changes to the sperm.  You are basicly trying to get pregnant with the lowest sperm count imaginable.   The dr. stands by his 17% chance of getting pregnant.

I am still considering whether to do it and I just can't decide.  But if you look at it this way:  You have a 17% chance of conceiving each time. About 30% of people concive within 4 tries.  So if you are one of that 30%, you get a conception for your $16,000.   But then you have a 20% chance of miscarriage, which is the same rate as normal pregnancy.  And then, for us, we will have a 72% chance of having the boy that we want.   It makes me wonder if our 50% chance of conceiving a boy naturally might be better odds!

Let us know what other info you find or what decision you decide to go with,

Kristin

Oh, no, I didn't end up having to do it.  When I got pg this time around, we thought it was our third boy because of a gender test I took.  I took the test at 8 weeks and didn't find out until I was 16 weeks that I was really having a girl.  But....my dh and I hemmed and hawed over all the possibilities.  He was against IVF for religious reasons.  We are Catholic and the church already doesn't approve of IUI but IVF would really be taboo in our faith....especially if we had to chose to destroy embryos.  I asked various women on this board about ms and called ms myself and got all the info.  In the end the IUI route would have been the way for us to go.  I figured if I didn't get pg on the first try, we would be out 4 grand or so and that would be our only shot....according to my dh.  It was a very difficult decision, but in the end this is what we were most comfortable with.  I think calling ms and talking with a nurse is a good way to go too.  Find out statistically how many cycles it may take based on your age and previous experience. 

Oh wow Kristen, I should have read your post before replying.  I didn't know it was that low!!  No wonder my sil is having trouble getting pg.  She is not doing MS but just trying to get pg.  I guess with those odds, I might have had to consider the IVF...hmmmmm.

Stella,

Oops, I should have been more clear.  The 17% chance of conceiving (and 30% chance for 4 tries) is for people doing Micrsort IUI.    You mentioned your SIL is having troulbe conceiving---I think the statistics for natural conception vary a lot on age, medical issues, etc.

So anyway, in order to get "accepted' by Microsort IUI, you have to be young enough and healthy.  But even then, you chances go down to 17% because of how they treat the sperm.

I've just started to realize over the last day or two that IUI is a lot more of a long shot that I first realized.  Is there anyone on the board who got pregnant and got the gender they wanted with IUI?

Kristin

Kristin, do you  mind me asking who gave you that 17% figure?  It's just higher than I've ever heard.  I was told with a natural ccyle I had a 10% chance and only a 12% to 16% (and 16% is on the very high end) if I used fertility meds.  I got pg on the first try both times when I conceived naturally and dh's sperm is excellent.  I did ms/iui once not using any meds, and I didn't get pg.  So, I think it's true that your past fertility is not a good predictor of how successful you'll be.  Most women going into this are very fertile because if they weren't they wouldn't even consider ms/iui since the sperm count goes down with the sorting.  I assumed I would definitely get pg on the first try--especially after the nurse told me I produce more eggs without drugs than many women do on fertility meds.  Well, still no baby! :)

Sorry to be a downer (again), but given how much $$ it all costs, I think it's important to be very realistic and to understand that all of us who have gone the ms/iui path have assumed those #s did not apply to us because we were always so fertile.  But, if you have the money, go for it!!  If you do get pg, you're very likley to get the gender you want!

wabg

I too am fertile myrtle.  Every time I've tried to get pregnant, I have.  But, getting pregnant is only half of the battle.  I got pg with my 1st ms/iui but then had a very very early miscarriage.  After talking with a fertility doc, he said that I would release only one good egg out of ~6 at my age (37).  The chances of getting pregnant AND having it coincide with the one good egg are too much for me to consider again.  If I had it to do over again, I would have used the microsort $$ in conjunction with an IVF/PGD cycle.  Good luck with your decisions.  They are hard ones and you have to make the choice for yourself.  We're here for you whatever you decide.