Confused about ICSI - what are you guys doing?

I have read some information that ICSI is very new and therefore that in itself is a side effect.  Also there is a risk of hurting the shell of my eggs and giving them less of a chance of surviving the freeze and thaw process.  There is also a risk of possibly injecting more that one sperm into the egg and causing polyspermy and this results in an abnormal embryo.  I am not sure what to do.  This is my first time with the whole process and so far they see 8 eggs on my utz.  I think I should have more eggs to play around with, don't you?  Any information would be helpful.  Thankyou

[happynifer]

we also did ICSI for male factor infertility and are now almost 18 weeks pregnant with our first attempt.
this is not  a new procedure...
since they control what they inject, polyspermy should never happen.
also-your first goal is your fresh cycle so there is no freeze/thaw to go through unless your first cycle fails and your have good enough embryos to freeze for a second attempt.
the advantage of natural fertilization is there is a natural selection process that allows the
"best" sperm to be the one to win the race to fertlize the egg, but when there are sperm issues they can select the best looking sperm and inject them directly....
worked for us :)
maybe you can discuss with your RE and see if they can inject some and fertilize some naturally and pick the best embryos to put back?
good luck!

[AnnieBrooke]

I don't know for sure how new ICSI really is.  We had it for the embryos that produced our son, and he is 3 1/2, so that would have been over 4 years ago and I don't think it was that new then.

[usuk]

I had ICSI. It is a more selective way to fertilize. They can pick the sperm for each egg. And also make sure each egg gets sperm. Otherwise they just let the sperm and eggs mix and hope the sperm get to the egg and get there in time, etc.

If they see 8 on the ultrasound, you may have more when they actually get in there. I only had 8 visible but 13 were retrieved.

[seattleview]

I hadn't heard any of those risks when I had my IVF/ICSI in May. If you are concerned, I would make sure your RE is highly experienced in the ICSI procedure. Just because a doctor offers it as an option doesn't mean they are an expert in that particular area. For example, if they do 20 IVF's a month, but only one with ICSI, I personally wouldn't trust my precious embryos to that level of experience. You should also ask for the overall success rates (success defined as live birth) for your age group, both with ICSI and without, because they definitely vary from clinic to clinic.

[trh0819]

My RE does ICSI unless you sign off not to. It's an automatic in his clinic as he has high success rates that he contributes to ICSI. I'd never heard of this when we started IVF and had a ton of questions, but as seattleview said, talk to your RE and find out. That's what we did and within one consultation, our minds were totally at ease, we agreed to move forward with ICSI, and now I'm 9 weeks pregnant. You definitely need to be comfortable with every step, so ASK!

[Levi97]

This is my first time doing IVF or any other form to have child other then natural. I am doing the IVF/ICSI/TESTE process, because my husband had a Vasectomy. My understanding is that my husband sperm doesn’t have a tail, so the ICSI process will help putting the sperm into the egg. Also, they will make sure the egg is fertilized and a greater chance for us to get pregnant. The ICSI process was recommended for my situation, but heard it has a higher pregnancy rate then no ICSI. Talk to your Re and ask lots of questions. I hoped that helped.... Baby Dust to everyone...

[needafamily]

Thankyou for all the info. I will ask more questions and check stats before we make a final decision.

[happynifer]

we also did ICSI for male factor infertility and are now almost 18 weeks pregnant with our first attempt.
this is not  a new procedure...
since they control what they inject, polyspermy should never happen.
also-your first goal is your fresh cycle so there is no freeze/thaw to go through unless your first cycle fails and your have good enough embryos to freeze for a second attempt.
the advantage of natural fertilization is there is a natural selection process that allows the
"best" sperm to be the one to win the race to fertlize the egg, but when there are sperm issues they can select the best looking sperm and inject them directly....
worked for us :)
maybe you can discuss with your RE and see if they can inject some and fertilize some naturally and pick the best embryos to put back?
good luck!