ICSI

When a happily married couple is devastated by news of almost nil chances of conceiving a baby, infertility treatments such as IVF and ICSI are some of the best options.

In vitro fertilization is one of the more drastic methods of artificial insemination that aims to circumvent infertility (particularly infertility issues with the paternal parent). The procedures performed to complete the method entail that both the female and male gametes are extracted and that fertilization occurs outside the human anatomy.

Deeper into the Process

As with any IVF procedure, the entire process starts with setting up the stage for the development of a healthy egg cell and the extraction of a potent sperm cell. The mother undergoes multiple follicle stimulation that bolsters egg development in the ovaries, and then a healthy egg cell is extracted. The father, on the other hand, would need to either provide sperm from normal ejaculate or if in case he cannot provide sufficiently potent sperm (strong, healthy, and motile—as in it can move well), then special procedures to surgically collect a viable sperm specimen might be necessary. ICSI is in fact recommended for such cases as when the father had previous vasectomy, or has a congenital defect or absence of vas, or perhaps had scarring from infections.

For the most part, all of these cases result in azoospermia, a condition where a male’s ejaculate is devoid of sperm—perfect grounds for infertility. There are also cases where ICSI is recommended when the egg cell the mother produces is especially resilient to fertilization, i.e., its cytoplasmic walls can’t be easily penetrated by sperm. When both gametes are ready, the process goes like this:

-Egg cell is primed for fertilization, held by a pipette in a controlled environment.
-A suitable sperm specimen is isolated and extracted via a very fine needle, and is inserted directly into cytoplasm of the egg cell. The needle does the penetration and delivers the sperm.
-The gametes are allowed to unify in fertilization, and a zygote is expected to emerge the following day.
-When a zygote does successfully form, it is returned into the mother’s womb and signs of pregnancy in the mother are anticipated.

Evidently, Pope Benedict XVI doesn’t like how the childbearing is so completely removed from the union of mother and father. But aside from this possible religious averseness, you should also weigh your decision based on the success rates and possible risks of ICSI.

Successes and Failures

In the US, the ICSI success rates vary widely from one IVF cynic to another, but in general, the country-wide success rates are a bit above 40%. Some clinics claim to have success rates of 75% to 80%. This is also the same figures for overall fertilization rates across the US, but just because an egg is fertilized does not mean the mother will get pregnant. Between the in vitro fertilization and the zygote transfer (and possible instances when the zygote is transferred from one cryogenically sustained environment to another), that fertilized egg can be assailed by many factors that could lead the pregnancy as a whole to fail.

Weighing all this information on your own can be overwhelming, and while these ICSI tidbits are generalized, you have your own biochemical composition and disposition to worry about. It’s always best to consult experts at your local IVF clinic to ascertain factors that might impact you and your body specifically.

Additional Articles:

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• Icsi Infertility
  
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