Insemination Articles

Two of our new bloggers are trying to get pregnant in the comfort of their Iowa home. ProudParenting.com member - Us 2 - is sharing their story with us.

She writes: "This is my first blog! We have attempted at home insemination for the past 3 months. We have been together for the past 8 years. We have good jobs and own our home..."

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This is a good place to start your journey towards successful insemination. There are a few choices you can make after first learning your options - so basic definitions are required.

Artificial Insemination (AI)
Artificial insemination (AI) is a common procedure lesbians use to become pregnant. In AI, sperm is injected into a woman's cervix, uterus, fallopian tube, or ovarian follicle. Sperm is typically selected from a sperm bank or from a known donor. This may be done at home.

Sperm Bank

ProudParenting.com member - SarahM - is chronicling the steps she's taking with her partner, to build a family.

She writes:

"I am very new to this site, but I am just desperate to communicate with people that are and have gone through the same things..."

At first, the couple struggled with the options available to them. They talked about adoption versus insemination, then decided on insemination. But the decision came after much processing of the fears that can arise during the decision-making process.

The Sydney Morning Herald recently informed its readers about the evolution of gay families in Australia. The number of lesbian and gay parents is increasing there and elsewhere - and the families are showing the world we can be outstanding guides and role models for our children.

Herald writer, Louise Hall, tells the story of nine-year-old Qona, a little girl born via artificial insemination. She has two lesbian moms and one gay dad.

"We call ourselves a family," said Qona's dad, Mark Harrigan (pictured with Qona).

FertilityPlus.org offers information regarding at home insemination. Although it's not intended to be taken as medical advice (always ask your doctor) - the instructions provided will aid intended parents by providing a foundation for their journey into artificial insemination.

The site outlines these 3 ways to possibly achieve pregnancy via artificial insemination at home:

• cervical cap/diaphragm
• cervical cap and access tube

The American Fertility Association is addressing special issues confronting LGBT parent hopefuls. In a unique move to provide fertility and family-building information to lesbian and gay prospective parents in the San Francisco Bay Area, the AFA is presenting the West Coast Family Matters conference February 10th.

The Los Angeles Times reports a disturbing story coming from San Diego. It involves an egg donor who carries a rare genetic mutation that can lead to an early death of her offspring. This particular neurological disease usually kills its victims before age 5.

A couple from rural North East England is celebrating the first birthdays of their quadruplets - born December 5, 2006.

The babies arrived prematurely - at 32 weeks - and two of them had to fight for their lives directly after birth. But all are healthy and happy one year later.

The couple has been in a relationship for more than decade.

In the late 1980's, a married doctor in Nassau County, New York donated his sperm to a friend and her female partner.

The man included his name on the child's birth certificate, believing it would give the boy "an identity". The donor orally agreed he would not have any rights or benefits in the child's upbringing. However, he regularly sent money, gifts and cards which were signed "Dad" and "Daddy," and enjoyed regular phone chats with the child.

The donor said he had contact with the child from his birth until 1993, when the mothers and son moved to Oregon.

Just as a particularly bad strain of chlamydia appears to be slowly spreading among gay and bisexual men, researchers in Britain are finding that the STD can make men infertile by damaging the quality of their sperm.