The procedure of ICSI involves direct injection of a single sperm into an egg under the microscope. When there is little or no sperm in the ejaculate (oligo or azoospermia), ICSI can be performed to accomplish fertilization with sperm obtained through microsurgical epididymal sperm aspiration (MESA), testicular sperm extraction (TESE), or testicular sperm aspiration (TESA).

ICSI has not been shown to increase fertilization rates in situations where the sperm assessment is normal. Normal fertilization rates with IVF or ICSI are approximately 50-60%. That is, for every 10 mature eggs obtained and combined with the sperm either with IVF or ICSI, approximately five to six will fertilize normally.

After the eggs are retrieved, instead of mixing the sperm with the egg, the embryologist utilizes a thin glass pipette to immobilize the sperm, sucks it up into the pipette, and then injects it directly into the egg’s cytoplasm.

If there is evidence of poor outcomes with previous ICSI treatment, your Footsteps To Fertility Clinic specialist in Kenya may recommend you undergo Intracytoplasmic morphologically selected sperm injection (IMSI) to improve your chances of pregnancy success.

For many couples where sperm quality is poor, conventional IVF is unlikely to result in fertilization. In such cases, your fertility specialist will recommend IVF with ICSI.

Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection is a technique incorporated into IVF infertility treatment in situations where the male partner suffers from any of the following:

• no sperm noted on a semen sample
• low sperm count
• high presence of abnormal sperm
• low sperm motility
• inability to ejaculate sperm
• ICSI may also be recommended for couples who have been unsuccessful with previous IVF cycles, and couples with unexplained infertility