IN VITRO FERTILISATION – IVF, INCLUDING ICSI

IVF, OR IN VITRO FERTILISATION, IS A PROCEDURE USED TO OVERCOME A RANGE OF FERTILITY ISSUES. IT SEES THE EGG AND SPERM JOINED TOGETHER OUTSIDE THE BODY, IN OUR SPECIALISED LABORATORY

The fertilised egg, or embryo, is allowed to grow in a protected environment for three to five days, after which it is transferred into the woman’s uterus, increasing the odds that a pregnancy will result.

The procedure, first utilised in 1978, requires the woman’s ovaries to first be stimulated with fertility drugs to produce multiple mature eggs. For many couples battling infertility issues, this gives them the best possible chance of having a baby.

Candidates for IVF/ICSI – we treat:

• Couples who have failed to conceive via less complicated medical procedures, such as Timed Intercourse and IUI.
• Women with tubal problems.
• Couples affected by male infertility.
• LGBTQ couples using donor eggs and/or sperm.
• Women with unexplained infertility.
• Women with severe endometriosis.
• When one or both partners are HIV positive.

What is the difference between IVF and ICSI? ICSI, or Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection, is very similar to conventional IVF in that the sperm and eggs are collected from each partner. The difference lies in the method of achieving fertilisation. In IVF, the eggs and sperm are mixed together in the laboratory and the sperm fertilises the egg naturally. In ICSI, however, a single sperm is injected directly into the egg. This method has been increasingly applied globally to address problems of severe male infertility. Low sperm count, poor quality of sperm, and inability to fertilise the egg are some of the issues for which ICSI may be suggested.

What is PICSI? PICSI, or Physiological Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection, is an added sperm selection tool in the treatment of ICSI that involves selecting the best possible sperm for fertilisation in the IVF protocol. This is important because the better the quality of the sperm, the better the chance of a successful fertilisation. PICSI is based on a concept called Hyaluronan (a material found in most parts of the body, including around the female egg) binding. What it effectively does is select sperm according to how well they bind to the Hyaluronan around the egg cell, through a test called a Hyaluronan Binding Assay. While sperm are traditionally selected for ICSI based on their appearance, PICSI allows for a choice that is instead made based on the sperm’s ability to fertilise and function. This negates the concern around the fact that chromosomal defects can still be found within healthy-looking sperm.