When fertility testing reveals that sperm problems are a significant contributor to fertility issues, intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) may be the most appropriate treatment option. ICSI involves selecting the “fittest” single sperm to inject into an egg for fertilisation.
The ICSI process involves the careful selection of a single high-quality sperm, considered the fittest, and the injection of this sperm cell into an egg. This is an advanced form of IVF, and allows the embryologist the most control over the fertilisation process.
In the course of preliminary male fertility testing, a semen analysis may reveal problems with the quality of sperm, a low sperm count, or large numbers of abnormally shaped sperm. These issues may lead to difficulty in sperm reaching or penetrating the egg during the conventional IVF process and result in a low fertilisation rate. In ICSI, instead of letting the sperm fertilise the egg by itself, a single sperm is injected directly into each collected egg.
All fertility treatments are preceded by a comprehensive review of your fertility to confirm which form of assisted reproduction, if any, is the most appropriate for your circumstances and align best with your personal preferences.
Similar to the conventional IVF procedure, hormone injections or oral medications are self-administered over the course of 10-14 days. These medications encourage your ovaries to develop multiple eggs in a cycle, instead of the usual single egg. Your wellbeing and progress of your ovaries will be closely monitored with blood tests and ultrasounds.
During a brief outpatient procedure, your eggs are collected from your ovaries using a fine needle guided by ultrasound. No general anaesthesia is needed, and you will be able to return home immediately after your procedure.
After collecting a fresh sperm sample from your partner or thawing frozen sperm (whether from your partner or donor), the embryologists at Genea assess the sperm for size, motility, and shape, then select one sperm for injection into each mature egg. The clinical team will carefully check each egg for quality and maturity before proceeding. Sperm collection/thawing is performed on the same day as your egg retrieval.
The fertilised eggs are transferred to Genea’s exclusive Geri® time-lapse incubator for development into embryos. The incubators provide precise climate control of each individual chamber to optimise embryo growth. At around day five of development, a single healthy embryo is selected for transfer to your uterus. This procedure involves passing a catheter (a long, thin tube) holding the embryo into your uterus via your cervix. Around two weeks later, Dr Parmar will organise a pregnancy blood test for you.
Prior to transfer, you may choose to have preimplantation genetic testing (PGT) performed on these embryos to ensure any with a genetic abnormality are not considered for transfer.
For men with sperm quality problems, fertilisation rates with ICSI can be 70-80%.1 However, rates of a successful pregnancy and live birth are dependent on multiple factors, including your general health, egg quality, and whether other fertility concerns are present. ICSI is not expected to increase your chance of fertilisation compared to conventional IVF if your sperm assessment is normal.
Dr Parmar will provide more personalised expectations of success after completing your fertility assessment.
