Couples longing to start a family can now use a fertility kit in the comfort of their own home – costing a fraction of treatment at an IVF clinic. Makers of The Stork – which costs £100 and is being sold by a high street pharmacist – claim it bridges the gap between natural conception and procedures in a clinic. It collects sperm into a cervical cap and the end of a condom-like sheath. The cap keeps the semen as near to the cervix as possible, allowing sperm to swim to the egg and fertilise it.
Currently, couples having trouble conceiving are offered treatment called intrauterine insemination. This involves separating fast moving sperm from more sluggish sperm and placing them into a woman’s womb near the time her egg is released. But there can be a lengthy wait for treatment and paying for a cycle at a private clinic can cost up to £1,000.
The Stork, sold online by Superdrug, is targeted at couples with ‘common fertility difficulties such as low sperm count, low sperm motility, ovulation timing and unexplained infertility’. The device, produced by a US company, is said to have a success rate of about 21 per cent. The cap is left next to the cervix for four to six hours and then removed using a tampon-like cord.
One expert said: ‘You are locking the sperm in for several hours so they get on with job and don’t have a chance to slip away.’ Gynaecologist Nick Morris, of the Wellington Hospital, London, said: ‘It will boost some women’s chances of getting pregnant fast and is a cheap option for couples who can’t get NHS fertility treatment or afford to go private.’
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