ICSI Treatment in Mumbai

Let’s take a closer look at ICSI fertility treatment and how it works?

Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) is a boon for couples with issues conceiving due to male factor infertility. It helps them overcome fertility problems and become biological fathers.

Over the years, ICSI has gained prominence and is commonly used in cases of male infertility, recurrent IVF failures, or when using frozen eggs.

ICSI is a complex procedure wherein the fertility specialist will use microscopes and specialized equipment to select the most viable sperm and inject it into the egg with a specially designed needle.

How is ICSI performed?

At Babies & Us, we recommend ICSI to couples who have issues with the sperm or who need surgical intervention to retrieve sperm from the testes. It is also advised in other conditions, which we will discuss later in the article.

Step by step process for ICSI 

Step 1: Super-ovulation and egg retrieval 

This process is similar to the IVF procedure, where the female partner is given hormonal medications to stimulate the ovaries to produce multiple eggs.

Once the eggs are matured, our fertility specialist will retrieve them trans-vaginally using an ultrasound-guided needle.

Step 2: Sperm collection

The male partner will provide the sperm sample, which will be washed and prepared. If he is unable to do so, we will retrieve the sperm through the testicular epididymal sperm aspiration method.

Step 3: Sperm selection

Our experienced embryologist will carefully choose viable sperm with good motility, appearance, and DNA integrity to inject into the egg.

Step 4: Sperm injection

This is a delicate step wherein the embryologist will use a sharp, hollow glass pipette to collect the sperm and inject it headfirst into the mature egg. Then the embryologist will carefully remove the needle and release the egg from the holding pipette.

The eggs are checked the next day to see whether fertilization has taken place or not.

Step 5: Embryo transfer

The fertilized eggs, known as embryos, are allowed to further develop for 3 to 5 days under constant supervision. At the right time, the fertility specialist will transfer a couple of embryos to the uterus using a soft catheter.

After 12 to 14 days, you will have to undergo a pregnancy test to verify whether you have conceived or not.

When is ICSI performed?

At Babies & Us, we recommend ICSI in Mumbai to couples with male infertility factors, such as:

• Poor sperm quality
• Low sperm count
• Poor motility
• Low sperm morphology
• Azoospermia
• High-level of anti-sperm antibodies

 

Apart from the above reasons, we perform ICSI when:

• We use frozen eggs, or sperm
• The previous IVF cycle failed due to few or no fertilized eggs
• You have to undergo preimplantation genetic testing

What are the advantages of ICSI?

ICSI helps embryologists choose good-quality sperm to enhance fertilization.  It has many other benefits, such as:

• It allows men to father a child with their sperm
• Couples can also opt for ICSI before deciding to use donor sperm
• It is a good option for men with ejaculation issues or whose sperm cannot penetrate the egg.
• ICSI is also possible in the case of vasectomy. The sperms are retrieved directly from the testicles using sperm retrieval methods such as TESA, TESE, etc.