Washed, motile-prepared sperm placed directly into the uterus at the precise ovulation window — appropriate for mild male factor, unexplained infertility and donor cycles.
IUI is often dismissed as 'IVF lite', but used in the right couple it has genuine value: lower cost, no anaesthesia, minimal medication, and a 12–18% per-cycle success rate when the indication is correct. The mistake is doing 6 IUIs when 2 would have been enough to know it isn't working.
IUI works best when the female partner is under 35, has at least one open tube, ovulates predictably (or can be made to), and the male partner has a post-wash motile count above 10 million. Cervical factor, mild male factor, unexplained infertility of short duration and donor sperm cycles all do well with IUI.
It does not work well — and we will tell you so — when there is bilateral tubal block, severe male factor, advanced endometriosis, or a long history of failed monitored cycles. Trying IUI in those settings just delays the move to IVF.
The evidence supports 3 IUI cycles maximum for couples under 35 — beyond that, success per cycle drops sharply and IVF becomes more cost-effective per live birth. For women over 35, we usually recommend no more than 2 IUIs before reviewing. For women over 38, we often recommend skipping IUI altogether and going straight to IVF, because the time cost is too high.
What goes into the uterus matters more than the procedure itself. Density-gradient sperm preparation in our embryology lab removes seminal plasma, debris, dead sperm and white cells, leaving a concentrated pellet of motile sperm. For high-DFI cases, we offer MACS-prepared sperm even for IUI cycles. The wash is timed so that insemination happens 60–90 minutes after preparation — fresh, motile, ready.
No — it feels like a slightly longer pap smear. Most patients drive themselves home afterwards and return to work within an hour.
12–18% under age 35, 6–10% over 35, 2–4% over 40 — which is why we don't recommend it indefinitely.
Yes — fully permitted under the ART Act 2021, with sperm sourced only from registered ART banks. We handle the matching and consent paperwork.
45-minute consultation, booked directly with Dr. Sana on WhatsApp. She consults at Apollo Fertility, Hyderabad. No referral needed.