15% success rate for IUI seems very low

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

The PITA appointments are the same with IUI and IVF.

This may be true for NCIVF (I wouldn't know), but it's absolutely not true for medicated IVF. It is a far far more involved process than IUI.

If you have a 15% chance of IUI working per cycle, I say keep your expectations in check and do it.

Than a medicated IUI?

[Anonymous]

15% chance with IUI is really good, OP. What did your doctor say were your chances with ivf? Even with donor egg, which has the highest chances of success, you only have a 45% chance each time.

An IUI cycle takes one month. Ivf takes two. The med doses are a lot lower on IUI and fewer injections, blood draws, and monitoring appointments. IUI is unquestionably easier.

In my opinion, doing two IUIs would be easier than one ivf, but that's super subjective.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

The PITA appointments are the same with IUI and IVF.

This may be true for NCIVF (I wouldn't know), but it's absolutely not true for medicated IVF. It is a far far more involved process than IUI.

If you have a 15% chance of IUI working per cycle, I say keep your expectations in check and do it.

Than a medicated IUI?

Yup. With my medicated IUIs, I usually had to go in twice before the IUI itself. With an egg retrieval, I probably had 10 appointments before I got to the egg retrieval day.

[Anonymous]

IUIs are MUCH cheaper than IVF for most. With my insurance, it was approximately 10-20 IUIs (depending on meds) equalled 1 IVF. So, if you have unexplained infertility (i.e., not an obvious problem that IVF is needed to solve), then just the extra follicles + perfect timing + shorter journey from IUIs might be enough. If time isn't a huge factor (in my case, I thought sub-37, I was willing to burn a year), then starting with IUIs make sense.

In my case, it took 5 IUIs to get there. 3 at $600 (just w/ clomid; testing covered by insurance) and 2 at ~$2,000 (injectables were the price difference, but med levels are much lower than with IVF). So, I spent $6,000 and 5 months in the end. Cheaper than one round of IVF (and with less injectables) and maybe not even all that much slower once all the prep work, etc for the IVF is taken into account... and IVF may have taken multiple cycles to work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

The PITA appointments are the same with IUI and IVF.

This may be true for NCIVF (I wouldn't know), but it's absolutely not true for medicated IVF. It is a far far more involved process than IUI.

If you have a 15% chance of IUI working per cycle, I say keep your expectations in check and do it.

Than a medicated IUI?

Yup. With my medicated IUIs, I usually had to go in twice before the IUI itself. With an egg retrieval, I probably had 10 appointments before I got to the egg retrieval day.

With my IUIs, I had to go in basically every other day at first and then daily toward the end. I guess it's different for everyone. The only difference for me was retrieval which was stressful, but considering the odds are much better, I was happy to do it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:IUIs are MUCH cheaper than IVF for most. With my insurance, it was approximately 10-20 IUIs (depending on meds) equalled 1 IVF. So, if you have unexplained infertility (i.e., not an obvious problem that IVF is needed to solve), then just the extra follicles + perfect timing + shorter journey from IUIs might be enough. If time isn't a huge factor (in my case, I thought sub-37, I was willing to burn a year), then starting with IUIs make sense.

In my case, it took 5 IUIs to get there. 3 at $600 (just w/ clomid; testing covered by insurance) and 2 at ~$2,000 (injectables were the price difference, but med levels are much lower than with IVF). So, I spent $6,000 and 5 months in the end. Cheaper than one round of IVF (and with less injectables) and maybe not even all that much slower once all the prep work, etc for the IVF is taken into account... and IVF may have taken multiple cycles to work.

That's more than I paid for 1 round of natural cycle IVF, OOP.

[Anonymous]

The success rate for a single cycle is low, but the cumulative rate after 3 or 4 cycles is around 45%, so similar to IVF. We did IUI first since our insurance required it to cover IVF down the road. Also, I was 34, so we thought we had time to try a less invasive method. Got pregnant on the 3rd IUI, but miscarried and moved on to IVF (had DD).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is IUI worth it if there is no male factor but the issue is decreased ovarian reserve?

It worked for me. I was dx with diminished ovarian reserve (no male issues) and got pregnant on the 4th iui. My son is now 2.5

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:IUIs are MUCH cheaper than IVF for most. With my insurance, it was approximately 10-20 IUIs (depending on meds) equalled 1 IVF. So, if you have unexplained infertility (i.e., not an obvious problem that IVF is needed to solve), then just the extra follicles + perfect timing + shorter journey from IUIs might be enough. If time isn't a huge factor (in my case, I thought sub-37, I was willing to burn a year), then starting with IUIs make sense.

In my case, it took 5 IUIs to get there. 3 at $600 (just w/ clomid; testing covered by insurance) and 2 at ~$2,000 (injectables were the price difference, but med levels are much lower than with IVF). So, I spent $6,000 and 5 months in the end. Cheaper than one round of IVF (and with less injectables) and maybe not even all that much slower once all the prep work, etc for the IVF is taken into account... and IVF may have taken multiple cycles to work.

That's more than I paid for 1 round of natural cycle IVF, OOP.

Natural cycle IVF is totally different though and, depending on your issue, has about the same success rate as IUI.

[Anonymous]

^^ PP says she spent nearly $3,000 on meds just for the two injectable cycles, so your no med IVF cycle should be cheaper, no?

[Anonymous]

While my iuis failed, I'm so glad I went that route first. The iuis were covered specifically under my insurance and it gave the clinic time to see how I responded to meds and make adjustments. I truly believe the information gathered from the iuis contributed heavily to my success on Ivf 1.

[Anonymous]

Should add my iuis were very expensive, just around 10,000 each due to the amount of meds I required. However, my insurance didn't cap on the amount just simply covered three iuis and all required meds/testing/scans. So financially, it's not always a cheap option.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

The PITA appointments are the same with IUI and IVF.

This may be true for NCIVF (I wouldn't know), but it's absolutely not true for medicated IVF. It is a far far more involved process than IUI.

If you have a 15% chance of IUI working per cycle, I say keep your expectations in check and do it.

Than a medicated IUI?

Yup. With my medicated IUIs, I usually had to go in twice before the IUI itself. With an egg retrieval, I probably had 10 appointments before I got to the egg retrieval day.

With my IUIs, I had to go in basically every other day at first and then daily toward the end. I guess it's different for everyone. The only difference for me was retrieval which was stressful, but considering the odds are much better, I was happy to do it.

Clearly depends on the Doctor. My iuis and Ivf were nearly identical. The only real differences were retrieval and a few more meds. Just as many appointments, scans and blood draws.

[Anonymous]

I've really never heard of such complicated IUIs before. OP, definitely ask your doctor to detail the differences for you.

[Anonymous]

IVF is a lot of meds. Medicated IUI uses a small fraction of that amount.