HOME INSEMINATION INSTRUCTIONS www.europeanspermbank.com RECEIVING AND HANDLING THE SPERM GET COMFORTABLE We ship your sperm in a sealed metal Home insemination means that you tank called a Dry Shipper. The tank have the opportunity to make your is shipped in a transport box, and it insemination cosy. Find a nice place, stores the sperm in nitrogen vapour where you can lie down undisturbed. at -196 degrees Celsius. Raise and angle your pelvis with a couple of pillows. Make sure you have been to the bathroom, so you don’t have to go immediately after the insemination. The tank is sealed to ensure that it When everything is ready and you are has not been opened or tampered comfortable, insert the syringe into your with. Remove the seal and open the vagina, and make sure that the syringe tank. You may experience a bit of comes as close to your cervix as possible. nitrogen vapour coming out of the Empty the syringe completely, and leave tank. This is harmless. it for one minute. Lie down for one hour after the insemination. Reaching an orgasm immediately after insemination may increase chances of success, as the orgasmic muscle contractions can help the sperm cells The sperm is in small plastic tubes – find their way. straws – submerged in a bit of liquid nitrogen. We recommend that you wear gloves when you remove the sperm from the tank, as the liquid IMPORTANT! Please remember to report your pregnancy or miscarriage to nitrogen is very cold. your partaking physician as well as to us at [email protected], so we can make sure that your donor’s pregnancy quota for your country is kept. Please note: We have included return shipping papers in the transport box and that we have scheduled a pickup. If you wish to change the pickup date, please contact the transportation company under the number stated in the shipping papers. The tank must, however, reach us within 14 days from delivery. EIGHT EASY STEPS TO HOME INSEMINATION Please read through all the steps before you begin 1 Unpack the home insemination kit. 2 Open the tank and gently take out 5 Cut the straw at the end opposite 6 Place the open end of the straw on The kit contains one 1 ml syringe, two the straws. Place them securely on the white part where you see an air the adaptor. disinfection swabs and one adapter. a table and let them thaw for five bubble, in order to avoid touching the Clean a pair of scissors with a swab. minutes. semen while cutting. 3 Attach the adaptor on the syringe. 4 Hold the end of the straw (at the 7 Cut open the straw at the other end 8 If you have two straws repeat the opposite end of the white part) and and draw the sperm into the syringe, procedure from step 4. The syringe will shake it gently in order to move the right under the white part. hold the contents from both straws. semen away from the end you need to cut in step 5. Turn the straw and disinfect it with the second swab. ON FERTILITY It may take several attempts before you succeed in becoming pregnant. A gyne- cologist or fertility person can help you with information and insights on fertility, risks, studies and methods. We do not have home insemination pregnancy statistics, but there are many factors at play, e.g.: • Time of insemination • Age • Diet • Overweight • A number of diseases, such as metabolic disorders • Hormonal disorders • A number of pharmaceutical drugs • Smoking • Alcohol abuse • Daily caffeine intake of 500 mg (about 3-5 cups of coffee) In addition to your own fertility, a successful insemination of course also re- quires a good sperm quality. At European Sperm Bank we only provide you with the highest quality of sperm. We always recommend that you use 1 ml of sperm (2 straws) for home insem- WHEN TO INSEMINATE? ination, as not all sperm are able to perform the arduous trip up through the cervix. Your home insemination must be made on the day of ovulation. Your ovu- lation comes every month approximately in the middle of your menstrual cycle. Your menstrual cycle is the period from the first day of your menstrual cycle to the first day of the next menstrual cycle – which means that ovu- lation normally takes place about 14 days before the first day of your next menstrual cycle. It is easy to find your day of ovulation with an ovulation test, which you can purchase online or at the pharmacy. Take a test morning and evening, and perform the insemination the day after your first positive test. GENETIC SIBLINGS FOR YOUR CHILD By using our parent storage option, you can ensure your donor child the pos- sibility of future full siblings from the same donor. All you have to do is ask us to reserve sperm from the same donor for your future use. Please go to our website for more information. We recommend that you reserve sperm as soon as you become pregnant. If you wait too long, your donor may no longer be available. The most important thing to us is that you are happy and confident in your choice. If you would like to talk about your options, we are here for you – by email or phone. European Sperm Bank Struenseegade 9 DK-2200 Copenhagen N Denmark T: +45 38 34 36 00 [email protected] www.europeanspermbank.com.