Therapeutic donor insemination (TDI)

Your donor sperm insemination, from preparation to after care

Therapeutic donor insemination (TDI) involves placing a flexible catheter into the uterus and injecting washed sperm. Sperm washing increases sperm motility by removing seminal fluid and immotile sperm. It is done using a centrifuge to separate the sperm cells from the seminal plasma. The healthier, motile sperm that remain may then fertilize the egg.

Costs

A TDI insemination (IUI) treatment plan is not covered by provincial health insurance. The fee covers your blood and ultrasound monitoring along with sperm preparation. If your plan includes medications, there will be an additional cost. Your Primary Care Team will guide you on estimated costs.

  • You will be prompted to pay for your IUI plan in your patient app once you have selected your plan. If medications are part of your IUI plan, you will be prompted to pay for them once you have started your cycle.
  • Any invoice requests can be directed to your Primary Care Team.

Please make sure the donor sample arrives at the clinic by cycle day 5 at the latest. Samples are only accepted Monday to Friday until 2 pm.

TDI is processed 7 days a week by appointment. You will sign a sperm thaw consent form to thaw your frozen sample. This consent will be sent to you electronically once you are scheduled for the insemination.

Infectious diseases blood work

Before starting your IUI plan, you (and your partner, if applicable) must have up-to-date infectious diseases blood work. This blood work is valid for 12 months, as regulated by public health standards. If an update is needed, it must be done before day 1 of an IUI cycle.

IUI consent

Your Primary Care Team will send you the IUI consent to review and sign electronically. This must be signed before day 1 of your IUI cycle.

Semen sample thaw for IUI

Once your physician has ordered the IUI, you will receive a booking for a semen sample thaw verification appointment. You must come on-site to verify your donor sperm identification with our andrology lab staff. Once that’s done, they will begin preparing and thawing your donor sperm sample. Appointments are available between 7 and 8:30 am on the morning of your scheduled IUI.

This verification appointment confirms to the andrology team that you are proceeding with your insemination that day. You will then return later that morning for your scheduled IUI procedure.

Your scheduled IUI procedure

  • Weekday IUIs are booked between 11:30 am and 12 pm.
  • Weekend IUIs are booked between 10:30 and 11 am.
  • Please arrive 10 minutes before your IUI appointment.
  • Arrive with a full bladder: drink 4–5 cups of water 1 hour before your appointment.
  • Check in at the front desk and take a seat in the waiting area.
  • A team member will greet you and take you to an ultrasound room to change into a gown and slides.
  • The team member will bring in your prepared IUI sample and verify your name (and your partner’s, if applicable) on the sample vial. You will need to verify and sign paperwork to confirm the correct sample.
  • The procedure is performed by a physician and takes about 10 minutes.

After your IUI

After your procedure, you are welcome to lie down for a few minutes, but it is not necessary. Lying down does not increase the chance of fertilization. It is normal to have vaginal discharge afterwards. It is not sperm coming out of you.

There are no special precautions after your IUI. You may resume normal activity. You may have intercourse.

It is normal to have spotting or mild abdominal cramping due to ovulation after your IUI. It is also normal to have no spotting or cramping. Neither predicts pregnancy; it is simply how your body responds to ovulation and the IUI.

Since a catheter is inserted into the uterine cavity during IUI, there is always a risk of pelvic infection afterwards. Symptoms of an infection include fever, vaginal bleeding, chills and abdominal pain. If any of these occur, contact your Primary Care Team. If you have any difficulty reaching them, go to the emergency department of the nearest hospital.

We ask that you avoid:

  • Smoking, vaping and recreational drugs
  • More than 1 cup of coffee per day
  • More than 1 standard alcoholic drink per day. This is okay until you are confirmed pregnant; then no amount of alcohol is safe.
  • Extreme, strenuous exercise that raises your heart rate over 140 beats per minute for more than 60 minutes. We encourage regular moderate physical activity, raising your heart rate to 140 beats per minute for 30 minutes per day.
  • Saunas, hot tubs, pools and hot yoga

If luteal support or progesterone supplementation is part of your treatment plan, please start your progesterone as instructed by your nurse. Do not stop until your nurse tells you to. If you run out of medication before your pregnancy test date, do not stop; please tell your Primary Care Team.

Your pregnancy test

We recommend that all pregnancy tests are completed no sooner than 14 days after ovulation. If you have taken Ovidrel as part of your treatment cycle, a pregnancy test may show a false positive for up to 12 days after taking it. This means that if you take an early home pregnancy test, you may get a false positive result.

Some people get an “implantation bleed”, known as spotting, and some people do not. Both are normal. The two-week wait can be challenging mentally and emotionally. If you are having a difficult time, please connect with us.