Couples who are planning to have a new addition to the family would naturally search for everything they need to know. Now that you’re trying to conceive, you may have heard the term natural insemination. But what is exactly does it mean and why should couples know about it?
To look into this method, we will be going into full detail about what it is as well as its pros and cons.
What Is Natural Insemination?
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Very bluntly, natural insemination is just having sex. Couples or single ladies desperate for a baby and who have tried endless means of artificial insemination that don’t seem to work might take heart in the fact that this seemingly outrageous idea claims to have three times the success rates as its clinical and more surgical counterpart.
Involving just having sex with a suitable and willing sperm donor, natural insemination usually comes with “no strings attached” and the donor and recipient are both fully aware of the removal of any romantic entanglement in the intercourse.
Naturally, contenders critique that its but a simple ploy for these men, who often offer natural insemination at no cost because they are just “happy in the knowledge that to have helped bring new, exciting life into the world”, to obtain free sex.
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Natural VS Artificial Insemination
While natural insemination donors on sperm donation forums may tout that their methods are more effective and boast of their previous successful donations, it has not been medically or scientifically proven that this method is better.
Additionally, natural insemination has not been recognised in any state as a legal contract, and is still viewed as a natural procreation process where the sperm donor, or the biological father in this case, is still liable for care and support of the child.
That means that unlike artificial insemination, a woman pregnant through natural insemination has a legal right to claim child support from the donor and the donor has a legal right to the custody of the child.
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What’s The Safer Method?
If you prefer a less clinical environment that might turn you off for being too sterile, perhaps natural insemination might appeal to you better.
Women who expressed their preference for the latter find such a method more convenient as well as easier on the pockets.
What’s more, they get to do it in the privacy of their own homes, away from the harsh fluorescent glares of the clinic.
That said, natural insemination still cannot beat the safety aspects of in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) for artificial insemination.
Besides having the donors to a sperm bank protected legally, the more clinical and formal process includes testing and quarantine of sperm samples, lowering the risks of potential genetic defects and the spread of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).
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To Each Her Own
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Whether she prefers artificial or natural insemination, a woman should go for the method that she feels most comfortable with.
While it may seem like a mere gimmick for lusty males to have free sex, who’s complaining if it’s a win-win situation where hopeful mums get what they want too?
In considering assisted reproduction, hopeful women and couples should read up on and consult experts on the different methods available, prioritising their options not just based on success rates, but also safety, comfort and any other related consequences.
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