ICSI: What is it and how useful can it be in your fertility journey?
ICSI stands for intracytoplasmic sperm injection and it is used when the cause of infertility is sperm-related, which means when sperm has an abnormal shape or is not moving normally.
We know that this is the case in 50% of infertility cases and ICSI is a common procedure with good success rates (around 90% fertilisation!). Of course, as part of an IVF cycle, there are other factors to consider and the rates for pregnancy and live birth are similar to a normal IVF cycle.
What does it involve?
ICSI can be done as part of an IVF cycle. It consists in selecting sperm and injecting it into the egg (as opposed to letting sperm and egg fertilise by themselves in a petri dish). This is done by the embryologist.
When would it be useful?
Is there anything I can do to help the process?
ICSI will be performed by the skilled embryologist so you don’t have to worry about that part. But there is a lot you can do to improve the quality of your sperm to increase your overall chances of success.
TEDx Speaker and NLP Coach of the Year 2017