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What is ICSI?
I know what IVF is, but what is ICSI?
Our Expert's Answer
This information was published 13 years, 2 months ago and was correct at the time of publication. It may not reflect our current practices or regulations.
Please note that all the answers we give are on a generic basis only, as we cannot provide more in-depth answers without access to your medical history. If you need a more detailed response, tailored to you, we would recommend a consultation with one of our Fertility Specialists for more comprehensive medical advice.
Intracytoplasmic sperm injection – ICSI – is used in conjunction with a traditional IVF procedure when the fertility issue lies with sperm disorders, for example a low sperm count, poor quality sperm or poor sperm motility. It gives hope to people who have a sperm problem, but who want to use their own sperm to conceive and not a donor’s.
With ICSI, eggs and sperm are collected in exactly the same way as in IVF. The best sperm are selected and a single sperm is injected directly through the egg membranes to achieve fertilisation. The procedure then follows usual IVF, with embryos transferred to the woman’s uterus to continue growing as in a normal pregnancy. Read more about ICSI here.