Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI)
Intracytoplasmic sperm injection process takes place during IVF. It is often performed for couples that are dealing with male factor infertility and for those who have not had success with IVF in the past.
There are five main steps to the ICSI procedure:
- A sperm sample is taken from your partner's semen or surgically extracted from his testes or epididymis.
- Your eggs are surgically extracted from your ovaries.
- Using a tiny hollow needle, one sperm is carefully injected into an egg.
- After injection, the fertilized egg is observed for growth and development.
- Once normal growth is observed, the embryo will be implanted into your uterus where it has a chance to implant and grow.
Some fertility clinics choose to use fresh sperm that have just been extracted, while others prefer to do the ICSI procedure with frozen sperm. There appears to be no difference in pregnancy rates between those who use fresh or frozen sperm during the ICSI process.
How ICSI works
The ICSI procedure is performed by using a technique called micromanipulation. Micromanipulation uses a special microscope, along with very small surgical tools, to pick up and handle one single sperm, injecting it directly into an egg. ICSI and male infertility The ICSI procedure can help you achieve IVF pregnancy success even when male infertility problems are an issue.