Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI)

What is ICSI?

ICSI is when a single healthy sperm is injected into a good quality egg.

When is ICSI needed?

There are some reasons why ICSI may be recommended including:

• Severe male factor: insufficient sperm numbers, motility or morphology
• Sperm has trouble attaching to, and entering egg
• Conventional IVF (where healthy sperm and egg are incubated overnight) has not resulted in fertilisation 
• Frozen or in-vitro matured eggs are being used

Will ICSI guarantee that I get a good embryo?

No. This is because there are several problems that can still occur along the way:

• Egg may be damaged 
• Egg does not grow into embryo even after being injected with sperm 
• Egg grows into embryo but stops developing/growing 

Does ICSI affect my (eventual) baby?

The risk of having a birth defect with ICSI is similar to IVF but slightly higher than if you were to get pregnant naturally. If you got pregnant naturally, the risk of a major birth defect is 2-3%.

The risk of birth defects with ICSI is thought to be related to infertility and not ICSI itself.