What are the differences between IVF and ICSI?
What is IVF?
IVF or In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) is an assisted reproductive technology (ART) in which fertilization of extracted eggs by sperm occurs outside the body. Eggs and sperm will be placed in a laboratory dish, allowing sperm to home toward and penetrate the eggs like in natural fertilization. The fertilization usually occurs overnight, and the resulting embryos will be nurtured further in an incubator for three to five days. Doctors will select the most promising and viable ones for transfer back into the womb.
What is ICSI?
ICSI, or Intra-Cytoplasmic Sperm Injection, is the injection of a single live sperm into an egg instead of natural sperm penetration. It is a form of IVF recommended for male-factor infertility treatment.
How IVF and ICSI are similar and different?
IVF and ICSI processes involve harvesting eggs and sperm for fertilization in a lab dish and nurturing the embryos in an incubator for 3-5 days before transferring them into the womb for implantation and pregnancy. The difference between IVF and ICSI is that IVF occurs via natural sperm penetration, whereas, for ICSI, sperm is picked up by a tiny glass needle and meticulously injected into an egg by an embryologist under a microscope.
What are the benefits of ICSI?
ICSI is a treatment for male-factor infertility. It is usually the procedure of choice when the sperm is unlikely to penetrate and fertilize an egg due to the following conditions:
- There is a low sperm count.
- The sperm are not sufficiently motile.
- There is no sperm in the semen, but sperm is retrieved from the epididymis or testicles surgically.
- There is an anti-sperm antibody in the female partner.
Doctors often recommend ICSI to those who use frozen eggs or sperm, eggs from women aged over 35 years old, or those who have had unsuccessful fertilization with conventional IVF techniques. Approximately 60% of IVF procedures nowadays involve the ICSI technique, with a successful fertilization rate of about 50%-80%
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