ICSI: Intra-Cytoplasmic Sperm Injection

Just as IVF changed the destiny of women with damaged tubes, ICSI has revolutionised the treatment of male infertility. Without it, millions of men with poor or weak sperm would never be able to father babies. With male infertility increasing worldwide, more and more couples are having to resort to ICSI to have children. No matter how weak, few or poor the sperm, ICSI will generally work.

ICSI involves injection of single sperm in to an egg in order to cause fertilization. The steps involved are the same as for IVF except that in the laboratory, a single sperm is picked up with a fine needle and injected into the egg.

This is done for all the good quality eggs. ICSI is mainly useful for infertility due to poor quality sperm. In this situation, the couple is unable to have a baby because the sperm cannot enter and fertilise an egg, and ICSI is often the only hope. Pregnancy rates are similar to IVF.