Are you and your partner considering ICSI? Perhaps you’re wondering about its risks. To determine if this fertility treatment is right for you, you need to think about some important ICSI risks and benefits.
Do the benefits outweigh ICSI risks?
Before you consider ICSI risks, let’s look at some benefits. After all, ICSI offers you and your partner a chance to conceive and have a baby.
Maybe you are pursuing ICSI because your partner has male factor infertility with low sperm count or a blockage. If so, ICSI gives you the chance to have a baby that is genetically his -- when that opportunity was no longer available.
Or, if you have undergone multiple rounds of traditional IVF without success, ICSI can ensure that your partner’s sperm gets to your egg for fertilization to take place.
Do ICSI risks override the benefits?
Although fertilization of the egg occurs more often than not with ICSI, there are some ICSI risks to think about. First, even if fertilization occurs with ICSI, it does not mean that the egg will develop into an embryo. Nor does it ensure that an embryo will continue to grow and mature.
This can be devastating news, especially when you are hopeful that ICSI will finally let you get pregnant.
In addition, sometimes the ICSI process can damage some of your eggs when the sperm is injected. When you consider all you have gone through to extract those eggs, this ICSI risk can be devastating.
Multiples and more ICSI risks
More ICSI risks include a greater chance of multiple pregnancies. In fact, with ICSI, you have about 30-35 percent chance for twins and 5-10 percent chance for triplets or more. Carrying multiples increases the chances of complications including:
- Gestational diabetes
- High blood pressure
- Low iron
- Low amniotic fluid levels
In addition, with twins, triplets or more, there’s a higher chance of bed rest, cesarean section and premature labor. Your babies are also at greater risk for complications, such as being born prematurely with low birth weight, or difficulty breathing on their own due to immature lungs or blood vessels in their brains which bleed easily. They are more susceptible to infection.
Birth defects and ICSI risks
ICSI risks include an increased incidence of birth defects in babies conceived through this process. ICSI doesn’t allow for a “weeding out” process that occurs with natural conception when imperfect sperm can’t break through the egg barrier. So one theory is that lower quality sperm are able to fertilize the egg and that may lead to a higher risk of abnormalities.
ICSI risks may include babies with sex chromosome abnormalities, hypospadias (a birth defect in boys where the urethra opening is underneath the penis rather than on the tip), Angelman syndrome, and Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome. However, the ICSI risk of having a baby with these abnormalities is very minimal (less than 1 percent).
Ask questions about ICSI risks
It’s important for you and your partner to discuss the ICSI risks and benefits with your physician. Your doctor can provide information that’s specific to your personal fertility history.
Getting a better understanding of ICSI risks and how they may impact you and your family can help you make an informed decision on whether or not to pursue this fertility treatment.
Sources: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) Report: National Summary. American Society of Reproductive Medicine: Patient Fact Sheet: Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI) American Pregnancy Association: Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI). IntegraMed: ICSI (Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection) fertility treatment. UrologyHealth.org: Management of Male Infertility.
