Hey ladies ❤️

I have my first consult with an endocrinologist on Monday to start HRT! I’m so excited to begin this part of the journey but have one snag that I’m having trouble getting past.

My wife and I are trying to store some of my sperm in case we want a second child in a few years. Obviously I need to do this before I can start E, but am having issues finding a bank near me and figuring out how much to store, how to prep and all that.

So a couple questions for those that went through the banking process before starting their journeys:

How much should I bank for IUI to “effectively guarantee” there will be enough stored to get a positive pregnancy? I’ve heard that IUI has a really low success rate, but I have no idea how much sperm is used per session and exactly how much I should store to make sure we don’t run out?

Any one have experience using a mail in service? And if so, what was the process like? And are their labs out there that accept insurance?

What do I need to do in order to prep for deposit? I’ve read that abstinence for 5-7 days is ideal. What about medical tests or referrals?

Generally, any recommendations on mail in labs would be really helpful. Preferably with a lower up front cost for the mail kit, washing and prep, and maybe a year of storage to start off?

Thank you for any insights ❤️ this is my last step before I can dive into HRT and want to get to my biHRTday so bad 😭

  • Sasha@lemmy.blahaj.zone
    7·
    10 months ago

    I got a referral through my gender clinic for mine which included some really nice storage prices.

    Abstinence is definitely encouraged and seems to help. They should let you know if you’ve got enough stored to have a good chance at a future pregnancy, but you can likely just go for a second time to store more without increasing the costs, at least it didn’t increase my costs.

    My first appointment resulted in 11 straws, and from memory each storage straw is one try. By the second appointment I had 25 or so, and thankfully they were much more healthy that time, but that amount is kinda overkill from what they described.

    Personally I wouldn’t want to do mail in, just in case. It’s insanely awkward going to the lab, but they really prefer you do it there to have the best chance of viable sperm to store. But mail in might be okay, I never researched it because it wasn’t an option for my place.

    • oNevia@lemmy.blahaj.zoneOPEnglish
      3·
      10 months ago

      I definitely agree with not necessarily wanting to do a mail in kit, but it may be my only option if I don’t want to drive 2 hours one way to a lab. With an extremely car sick 18mo, my options are very limited. :/

      Thank you for giving me some insight on your prep stuff!