Ready to learn more about ICSI Fertility Treatment? You’re in the right place! ICSI or Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection is a highly specialized form of fertility treatment, often seen as a beacon of hope for many aspiring parents. This post will guide you through understanding this advanced procedure in depth – what it is, how it works, what you can expect, and more. We aim to break it all down in an easy-to-understand way. So whether you’re considering ICSI or just curious, let’s dive into the world of this miraculous technique together!

Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI) is a specialized form of IVF treatment and is usually done in crucial cases of male infertility. In this process, a single sperm of males is directly injected into a mature egg.

Working procedure of ICSI

Women’s menstrual cycles last for a month. During this time because of natural hormones, the follicles present in ovaries comprising of eggs grow gradually. During the midway of the menstrual cycle, the ovary releases its eggs, which leads to ovulation. These eggs become ready for fertilization and wait for the fertile sperm in the fallopian tubes. In the ICSI treatment, women are given special reproductive hormones for the development of multiple eggs. These eggs are later on retrieved from the body for ICSI treatment. During ICSI treatment, single sperm is injected in each of the collected egg through a fine needle, and the complete process is done under a microscope.

Once injected, these eggs are kept in an incubator for hours, where most show fertilization signs. These egg cells from an embryo in 2-3 days and are again transferred to woman uterus to continue the procedure of pregnancy.

The step-by-step process of ICSI

Such a process is done in case of severe male infertility. Below are the process which is done during the treatment

Stimulation: This is the first step in which medications are injected into the woman’s body, which matures the follicles.

Egg and sperm retrieval: After stimulation, eggs are taken out of the body. Sperms are also collected, and motile sperms are separated from immotile ones and are washed.

Insemination: In this process, the sperm is injected in every single egg for fertilization. Morphologically normal sperms are picked for insemination. This is an important step that enhances pregnancy chances.

Blastocyst Culture: The inseminated eggs are then kept in an incubator under favorable temperature to form embryos.

Embryos Transfer: The healthy embryos are then shifted to a woman’s uterus. A thin needle is used to complete this task.

Who should go with ICSI

Below are some cases in which doctors recommend ICSI process to patients.

  • If a man with low sperm count is unable to conceive even after 12 months of unprotected intercourse with the partner.
  • Men with abnormal sperm shape or poor sperm mobility should surely go with this treatment.
  • Men with frozen sperm
  • It is beneficial for those who have failed in IVF treatment.

This procedure is useful for those who have experienced multiple IVF failures.

Time taken for ICSI treatment

You can expect a time period of 4-6 months for the completion of one cycle of ICSI. Hence you can have to spend almost half of your day in the hospital to retrieve sperm and eggs. Once the retrieval is done, the doctor will give you the next appointment after 2-5 days for the embryo transfer process.

What can you expect after the ICSI process?

The whole ICSI process comprises shots, monitoring, and implantation, which can be a physically and mentally challenging situation for a woman. Hence it is advised to do a frequent blood pressure test and monitoring after the completion of the ICSI session. However, you don’t need to remain hospitalized for a long duration during the ICSI process that this can be good news for you!

The woman is advised to remain away from physical and mental draining activities for at least a week.

The success rate of the ICSI process is more as compared to that of IVF. It only injects good quality sperm in the eggs for fertilization. Usually, 50-80% of eggs are fertilized in this process.

The basic difference between IVF and ICSI process

The major difference between the two processes is the environment in which the procedure is performed. In the case of IVF, the fertilization process is done in a Petri dish. In ICSI, the embryologist gives the desired boost to the sperm through micromanipulator, which makes it easy for them to enter into the eggs.

IVF with or without ICSI

Some couples opt for ICSI instead of going with IVF right in the first attempt. There are unexpected reasons associated with fertilization failure, and this will waste your time and money. Hence instead of only IVF, couples can go with IVF with ICSI. This will increase the chances of a healthy pregnancy. However, it doesn’t imply that IVF fails for most of the couples. 

Bottom Line

With half of the couple facing difficulties in conceiving, the infertility cause is because of male factor. ICSI Fertility treatment is the most appropriate way which can complete your family. With the advancement in technology, ICSI has helped many couples to overcome infertility issues. Many clinics are now adopting this procedure to achieve more success.

Anyone can indeed face infertility, and it can be a challenging experience for many. But thanks to ICSI, which increases the chances of pregnancy for bringing a smile on the patient’s face.