Assisted Insemination, referred to as Intra Uterine Insemination (IUI), is a procedure where your partner’s sperm is placed in your uterus at the time of ovulation. This treatment has several different drug options. Your Fertility Tasmania doctor will suggest the most appropriate treatment for you. IUI treatment does require a series of blood tests and scans to predict ovulation and timing of insemination.

An IUI is performed by threading a very thin flexible catheter through the cervix and injecting washed sperm directly into the uterus. The whole process doesn’t take very long – it usually only requires the insertion of a speculum and then the catheter, a process that may take a couple of minutes. Sometimes when the cervix is hard to reach a tenaculum (forceps) is used to hold the cervix, which makes the process a bit more uncomfortable.

Most women consider IUI to be fairly painless – along the same lines as having a pap smear. There can be some cramping afterward, but often what is felt is ovulation-related rather than from the IUI. The catheter usually doesn’t feel like much since the cervix is already slightly open for ovulation