I had two 'turkey baster babies' using DIY Amazon kits and a sperm donor...and it worked first time

Can you really make a baby using a turkey baster?

It's a question that has no doubt made appearances at booze-filled dinner parties and girly nights in many times over. You'd be forgiven for thinking the answer is, of course not.

However, judging by a string of unconventional pregnancies popping up across the US, it would seem that such a method is not unfathomable after all.

DailyMail.com has discovered a plethora of online companies that offer $99 pregnancy kits; a collection of paraphernalia - including a pipette-like tube - that claim to help distribute sperm into the vagina in a way that is likely to result in conception.

And judging by some couples' accounts on social media - it works.

Hanna Rewerts and her wife Kara, from Tampa, Florida, credit DIY kits they bought online for the birth of both their children, now three and one.

Remarkably, both - one ready made kit for Hanna and one they had cobbled together themselves - worked the first time. 

Hanna Rewerts (right) and her wife Kara (left), from Tampa, Florida, credit DIY kits they bought online for the birth of both their children, Hudson, 3, and Halton, 1

Remarkably, both kits - one ready made kit for Hanna and one they had cobbled together themselves for Kara (pictured pregnant) - worked the first time

Like many couples who choose this option, the pair were not keen on the barrage of medical appointments and tests that traditional fertility treatments would entail. 

In vitro fertilization (IVF) is the most popular method for non-sexual conception, such as for same-sex couples. It involves eggs being harvested and fertilized with sperm in the lab, before the embryos are inserted into the uterus. An average IVF cycle costs between $15,000 and $30,000.

Then there's intrauterine insemination (IUI), a type of artificial insemination, which is simpler and cheaper. During IUI, sperm is placed directly into the uterus using a small catheter.

But DIY IUI does not require any medical appointments at all. 

It can be as simple as tracking ovulation and buying over-the-counter tools, including a container for semen and a needle-free syringe.

The semen is injected into the vagina, around the time an ovary is due to release one or more eggs, and instruments are used to keep the semen as close to the egg as possible.

'I didn't want to have to be on a medication or pumping in hormones,' Hanna told DailyMail.com. 

'I just wanted it to be a more natural thing, because it can't happen naturally for us, obviously.'

'It was so nice to be able to be like, "we got pregnant at home," versus saying at a doctor's office,' she added.

They found a sperm bank and decided on a tall, slim, white, college educated donor. The couple bought all of his sperm - nine vials at $900 each - because they did not want their donor to be able to donate to any other couples.

The vials were transported to a cryobank close to the couple to be stored in the right conditions, which costs them $50 a month.

When they decided to start trying, the first vial was sent to the house in a small nitrogen tank containing dry ice to maintain the quality of the sperm. 

Once the couple opened the box, they had 30 minutes to use the sample.

They had been tracking Kara's ovulation for around four months, but when they received the sample, Kara, a business development manager, had not ovulated as scheduled.

The pair were about to leave for a trip, so they went ahead with the insemination and hoped for the best. 

They sucked up the half-a-teaspoon of semen using a syringe and Kara inserted it, followed by a disposable menstrual disc, which is similar to a menstrual cup.

The menstrual disc holds the sperm close to the cervix for a longer period of time, increasing the likelihood that sperm will swim through the cervix and uterus into the fallopian tube to fertilize an egg, while also stopping the semen from leaking out.

'The cup is probably the most uncomfortable thing, because it's just awkward and weird. But once it's in there, it's in there,' she added.

Mosie Baby is a $99 at-home insemination kit which was the first to be cleared by the FDA in December last year

'It was very lucky, and I'm very grateful that it worked the way it did,' Hanna told DailyMail.com

Kara laid on her back with her legs in the air for 10 minutes to let gravity do its thing, and then kept the menstrual disc in for 12 hours.

Hanna said: 'I think the biggest thing that helped us was that period cups, because the sperm had nowhere else to go. It was like, even if you didn't ovulate that day, and you ovulated the next day, it's still gonna be in there.' 

Ten days later, Kara had a positive pregnancy test.

'We were very surprised. I was like, "Are you sure it worked?"' Hanna said.

'It was very lucky, and I'm very grateful that it worked the way it did.' For their second child, Hanna was the one getting pregnant. 

They did the exact same procedure, this time using a Mosie Baby syringe - part of a $99 at-home insemination kit which was the first to be cleared by the FDA in December last year.

Hanna kept the menstrual disc in for eight hours after insemination, and had a positive pregnancy test just five days later.

Their friends and family were 'thrilled'. 'Everyone loves to hear how it happened,' Hanna said.

'For us, it wasn't the money factor. It was just wanting it to be a more intimate situation. But the money is a huge part of it, too. It is still cheaper than IVF.'

A couple from New Jersey also fell pregnant on their third attempt using Mosie Baby. 'We started accepting the fact it just wasn't meant to be,' they said, after they spent over $5,000 on several rounds of IUI treatments

A range of these kits are available online from sites such as Amazon, ranging from $50 to 100.

But are they really that fool-proof? 

IVF has a success rate of around 24 percent across all age groups per cycle, meaning women often require more than one attempt.

Experts agree that artificial insemination and sexual intercourse tend to have similar success rates, which is around 30 percent per menstrual cycle.

There is 'no difference' in the chance of conception using artificial insemination compared with intercourse, Dr Lora Shahine, reproductive endocrinologist at Pacific NW Fertility in Seattle, told DailyMail.com.

An intrauterine insemination done in a fertility clinic, however, will have a higher chance of success than at-home inseminations or intercourse, she said, because it cuts down on the time and distance the sperm has to travel. This is because in clinics, a catheter is used to help the sample reach further inside the vagina.

In general, IVF has higher success rates than IUI, experts say.

IVF has a success rate of around 24 percent across all age groups per cycle, meaning women often require more than one attempt. Meanwhile, experts agree that artificial insemination and sexual intercourse tend to have similar success rates, which is around 30 percent per menstrual cycle

DIY IUI can be helpful for couples that have difficulty with intercourse, Dr Shahine said, such as painful sex for the woman or erectile dysfunction for the man.

'Many people having difficulty with the ’trying part’ of having a baby and at home insemination kits allow couples to try in the privacy of their own home in a different way,' she said.

Other motivations for the DIY method include that the widespread problem of lack of access to care.  

'Location to a fertility clinic, cost of fertility treatments, and wait times to see a fertility doctor can all be barriers. People can try at home inseminations before seeing a fertility doctor or while they wait for their first appointment,' Dr Shahine said.

However, there are downsides, explains Dr Shahine. 

For instance, going totally DIY without speaking to a doctor risks glossing over serious fertility problems that require medical treatment.

'I do worry people may delay fertility testing or consults with a fertility clinic because they're spending time doing at-home inseminations,' she added.

Then there's the issue of finding a sperm donor. The cells are often obtained from a friend, or sometimes from a stranger via online forums like sperm donation Facebook groups. 

But experts say unregulated sperm donation raises the risk of STIs, which could leave a woman infertile or with an unviable pregnancy.

Mosie Baby was founded by the couple Maureen and Marc Brown after they had struggled to conceive for over two years.

After two and a half years, they visited a fertility doctor, who said there was nothing wrong with either of them, and suggested they try IUI.

After doing IUI in a doctors surgery to conceive their first child, the pair became pregnant with their second child after a single cycle with Mosie - a healthy baby boy named Frank who was born in August of 2016.

A couple from New Jersey also fell pregnant on their third attempt using Mosie Baby.

'We started accepting the fact it just wasn't meant to be,' they said, after they spent over $5,000 on several rounds of IUI treatments.