My partner and I wanted to share our story as a means of documenting our baby-making exploits with intrauterine insemination (IUI) and more importantly, as a means of disseminating (no pun intended) information to other lesbian couples who are planning or trying to start a family. Because when we started this process a few months ago, we had a very hard time finding the necessary information. And it cost us. It cost us time and money.
So, without further ado…if you are trying to get pregnant via intrauterine insemination (IUI) do this immediately: go get your tubes blown out!!
Let me explain. HSG is the Hysterosalpingogram. It’s an x-ray test that checks to see if your Fallopian tubes are open and/or tied up like a pretzel. Which would, of course, inhibit fertilization. So, here’s the thing. The act of performing the HSG test to see if your tubes are clogged usually unclogs your tubes in the process. How fortuitous!
My partner’s tubes were clogged. We know this because it took two bottles of contrast dye in order for the radiologist to achieve the desired test result. But this I do know, based on the 5 pregnancy tests my partner has taken over the last seven weeks: the IUI she had days after the HSG test resulted in pregnancy!
No one ever talks about this stuff and we’re hoping that’s why we’re here. Even if you’re a straight couple with a seemingly endless supply of semen, if you’ve been having trouble getting pregnant and can spare the money, go get your tubes flushed. All the time and attempts in the world are not going to get your eggs and his sperm where they need to be to make this happen.
After all of this, we have an amazing little girl and a new baby boy to keep us busy now.
Please learn from our mistakes. You can read more of our stories here.