question about ICSI

[Anonymous]

Outside of the cost, why isn't it done on all embryos every cycle? Our doc was fine with our fertilization rate of 70%, but I can't help but thinking we lost some potential embryos in the process.

Or is it the sort of thing in which given that we had some "good" embryos not using ICSI, any of the ICSI-fertilized remaining embryos weren't as likely to be as good as the others?

[Anonymous]

Doing half-and-half could be diagnostic, i.e., you'd find out if you had a fertilization issue. ICSI not without its own potential risks to the embryos, so in a best case scenario, you wouldn't do it. I would have always preferred not to use ICSI, but I never had enoguh embryos to risk it.

[Anonymous]

Thanks, PP. To clarify, we don't have a fertilization issue. We've done 3 rounds of IVF by now, so we know that.

That said, I do tend to produce only a moderate number of embryos, especially for my age (35)- 8 last time, and 10 this time- and while we have no indications of any male fertility issues, it seems like even with a rate of 70-80% fertilization (which, as I understand it, is "good") we're still risking precious possible embryos...

[Anonymous]

Ask for PICSI.