In the morning the eggs are examined to see whether the fertilization occurred. The developing embryos are allowed to grow and divide for the next 24 – 48 hours. However, not every fertilized egg will get divided and it is also possible that some of the embryos may stop growing at some early stage of their development. The amount of embryos, which may be transferred, is different in different countries. For example, in the United Kingdom up to three embryos may be transferred into the uterus. In case of any excess embryos of suitable quality may be frozen for later use.
ICSI Treatment Outcome
There are more than 26,000 babies, produced in the result of Intra Cervical Sperm Injection around the world during the 11 years. It should also be added that fertilization rates keep in the region of 60 – 70 percent of the injected eggs and division rates of about 80 percent are expected after ICSI. The risk of complete failure of fertilization is not bigger than 5 percent, while the overall live birth rate per embryo transfer is more than 28 percent. The success rate of ICSI treatment mostly depends on the skill and experience of some definite clinic’s practitioners. In addition, there exist some other factors, which may influence the Intra Cytoplasmic Sperm Injection success rates. They mostly include the surrogate mother’s age and the number of embryos transferred. It is also important to point out that ICSI does not increase the occurrence of multiple pregnancies, as in comparison with standard In Vitro Fertilization procedure.
How safe is ICSI?
There exist some degree of concern about the safety of the Intra Cytoplasmic Sperm Injection procedure in addition to the risks, which are associated with the standard In Vitro Fertilization treatment. The reason of it is mainly because of the risk of injecting an abnormal sperm since ICSI bypasses the natural stage of sperm maturation and selection. It is also possible that ICSI may result in fertilization of an abnormal egg, and during natural or standard In Vitro Fertilization the process of natural selection is in action, and it is much less likely that an abnormal egg would be fertilized successfully.
It has also been suggested, that the rate of great birth defects is as twice as high as in the background population (it is 7.4% vs. 3.8%). There is also a slightly increased risk of some mildly delayed mental development. In addition, there is also a slight increase of sex chromosome abnormalities, for example of Turner’s syndrome and Klinefelter’s syndrome development (it is 1.2 percent vs. 0.5 in the general population). However, there exists no apparent reason to consider that the very technique of IntraCytoplasmic Sperm Injection may be harmful itself.
It should be kept in mind that all the children, who arrived in the result of Intra Cytoplasmic Sperm Injection would be carefully followed up, and all patients, who conceive by ICSI are to consider antenatal screening tests, like chorionic villus sampling and / or amniocentesis.
| 
