The fertility consultation at Medicover includes a discussion with the fertility specialist, followed by a thorough medical examination. An embryologist will explain them the options available to address issues related to sperm.

The female partner needs to visit on day two or three of her menstrual cycle, when hormonal investigations are done along with an ultrasound. The ovaries are stimulated with medication to promote the growth of follicles containing the eggs; this process can last for eight to 12 days. The response of the ovaries (quantity and quality of follicles recruited) is monitored through ultrasounds and blood investigations at regular intervals.

After eight to 12 days of taking the medicine, an injection (trigger) is administered to assist with the final maturation of the egg and loosening of the egg from the follicular wall. The patient must visit the clinic for the egg retrieval process, which will be performed 34-36 hours after the trigger administration. Egg retrieval is performed with ultrasound guidance under mild sedation to make it painless.

On the day of egg collection, the male partner provides a fresh semen sample, which is analysed and processed by an embryologist in the ART lab. In this procedure, sperm processing (post ejaculation) is different. If required, sperm can be extracted from a testicle or epididymis in a separate procedure.

After evaluation in the laboratory, the finest embryos are selected for transfer and depending upon their quality a preferable day is decided for embryo transfer.

Supportive medicines are prescribed after the embryo transfer that help the embryo to implant in the uterus. After the stipulated period, pregnancy tests are conducted to confirm pregnancy.

ICSI technique involves the use of specialised micromanipulation tools and equipment, that allows embryologists to identify the normal-appearing, active sperm with good shape. The selected sperm is then injected into the cytoplasm of the egg. It is used in more than half of all IVF treatments and offers the most successful type of treatment for men who are having low sperm count , motility or morphology.

A man may have physiological or anatomical condition that prevents the passage of sperm in the ejaculate. In this condition the sperms can be retrieved surgically from the epididymis or the testicular tissue.

Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) is a laboratory procedure which helps infertile couples undergoing IVF in cases of severe male factor infertility. There is now an alternative to this standard ICSI procedure known as the PICSI procedure. Through PICSI an embryologist can determine sperm selection in the same manner as it happens inside the human body.

It is defined as the amount of damage seen in the sperm DNA. i.e. the amount of abnormal genetic material present within the sperm cell, which in turn may be a reason for male subfertility, IVF failure and miscarriage. One must consider the impact of DNA damage on the sperm because half of the DNA in the offspring comes from the father’s side.

IVF with donor sperm is an option used when the male partner is medically unable to produce sperm, or has suboptimal semen parameters, or when there is a genetic problem that could be inherited from the male.