Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) is a type of IVF. Couples with fertility issues have lots of options, and ICSI is one that targets the specific issue of low sperm cell availability.

The procedure for ICSI is very similar to IVF, but ICSI pinpoints only one sperm cell to fertilize one egg.

Let’s say your partner has a very low sperm count, or his sperm are abnormally shaped; they don’t have normal motility, or they lack the ability to penetrate an egg. In this case, regular IVF treatment might not work because these sperm cell issues hinder the sperm from properly fertilizing the egg with a simple swirl inside an IVF petri dish.

With IVF, many sperm cells are combined with an egg, and doctors let a single sperm cell penetrate the egg on its own. When near an unfertilized egg, sperm cells naturally attempt to enter and fertilize the egg.

However, the sperm cells’ inability to do this on their own is a very specific issue that will cause IVF to not work. When these issues are known, ICSI should be used instead.

With ICSI, only one sperm cell is collected inside a tool that carefully pierces the outer shell of the egg, releasing the sperm cell inside the egg for fertilization.

From there, the procedure matches that of IVF. The fertilized embryo is placed back in the woman’s uterus, and all wait in hopes of a positive pregnancy test.