IVF ICSI Treatment

For couples who are faced with infertility issues, such as a poor production of sperm, procedures such as IVF ICSI are available to help increase the chance of getting pregnant. ICSI or Intracytoplasmic sperm injection has been considered a miracle breakthrough in the world of reproductive medicine. With this procedure, couples who face acute male infertility have the possibility of conceiving a child, without having to use a sperm donor. If several failed attempts at in vitro fertilization have occurred, then ICSI can also be used in that situation.

While IVF ICSI procedures are widely used, there is not a standard of care set up in the field of medicine to determine which cases should receive ICSI and which should not. There are some fertility clinics that choose to use this procedure only when the male involved has severe male infertility issues, while other clinics choose to use it for several different fertility issues. The majority of clinics that handle IVF or in vitro fertilization procedures lie in the middle ground of when to use this procedure. The success rate for ICSI varies depending on the individual situation, the technique used and the skill of the person performing the particular procedure.

While fertility clinics vary, some recommend IVF ICSI procedures for specific situations. Some of the situations are when couples are faced with male infertility that is severe and are not looking to use a sperm donor and for couples who have used IVF and have had no luck with fertilization or a low percentage of their mature eggs were fertilized. It is also used when couples have had IVF in the past and have produced very few eggs during the retrieval process.

When ICSI is used in this instance, it is to attempt to produce a higher amount of eggs that will become fertilized. The success rate for in vitro fertilization methods that include intracytoplasmic sperm injection have shown, in several studies, to be higher than that of IVF used alone. The normal reason for this is that most times the women involved were young and considered fertile.

When IVF ICSI procedures are performed because of a low production of eggs produced by the ovaries, the success rates are normally lower. This is because the main determining factor of the success of IVF is the transferred embryos quality. The single most crucial factor that determines the quality and survivability of the embryos produced is the quality of the eggs. IVF ICSI procedures, used for several infertility issues, have been successful in helping couples conceive a child, when at most times there wasn't any hope. ICSI can allow a couple to produce a child who is the biological result of both parents, rather than having the assistance of a sperm donor.