Service Brief
Doctors can now inject a single, tiny sperm directly into an egg during a procedure by using a technique called micromanipulation.
This procedure may increase your chances of success with test tube baby. 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:
1. A sperm sample is taken from your partner's semen or surgically extracted from his testes or epididymis.
2. Your eggs are surgically extracted from your ovaries.
3. Using a tiny hollow needle, one sperm is carefully injected into an egg.
4. After injection, the fertilized egg is observed for growth and development.
5. 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.
Service Information
In our program we routinely prefer to use ICSI, in most cases, to guarantee against any risk of failed fertilization. If you are a man with less sperm count or with less sperm motility, this method of treatment is the perfect fit for you. If you are a woman with bad ovarian reserve, premature ovarian failure or undergoing unexplained infertility, this method is the right fit for the female too.
