Many couples wish to have children of their own but are unable to because of a low sperm count, insufficient sperm movement, or sperm that are too weak to penetrate the wall of the egg.

ICSI is a revolutionary new process that drastically improves the chance of achieving pregnancy. Like IVF, we begin by prescribing fertility drugs for the woman. Once the eggs are at the proper stage, we extract them by follicular aspiration. After the eggs are taken from the ovaries, they are brought to the laboratory and placed into an incubator dish. Normally, cumulus-corona cells surround the female's egg(s). During ICSI, we remove these cells in order to properly view the egg and inject the sperm.

We then place the eggs in either a petri dish or on a glass slide with a slight depression in the middle.

The man's active sperm, which has been collected several hours before, is placed into a small amount of solution. The sperm and solution are then placed in a viscous medium (e.g. mineral oil). This viscous medium slows the sperm's movement, making it possible for the infertility specialist to locate the sperm and ensure that no damage occurs when they are drawn into the injecting needle. The needle is then inserted into the egg and the sperm is injected directly into the egg's center. When the needle is withdrawn, it only takes a minute for the egg to retake its normal shape. The fertility clinic monitors the egg for the first 15 hours to see whether or not fertilization has taken place. Early cell division begins within the first 24 hours. In some instances, assisted hatching must be performed in order to ensure proper cleavage (the early divisions of the fertilized egg).

Once the embryos have developed sufficiently, the patient returns to the office where they are reinserted into the woman's uterus.

To facilitate this process, the embryos are placed in a small amount of fluid and inserted through the cervix and then into the uterus. The woman is then given blood tests, urine tests, and ultrasound exams to monitor whether or not pregnancy has occurred. The chance of becoming pregnant depends on a number of factors, including the number of eggs extracted, the age of the female patient, and the male sperm count.