IVF Process – Insemination

There are generally 2 different types of inseminations that can be used to fertilise the egg. One is “natural” IVF, then other is ICSI.

“Natural” IVF is when we inseminate the egg surrounded with their support cells with thousands of sperm that have been prepared by the laboratory. This means that the sperm have to travel through the support cells, adhere and bind to the shell of the egg called the zona pellucida and then bind and fuse with the membrane of the egg. The sperm then needs to initiate a cascade of reactions for the egg to fertilise. All this means the sperm needs to be mature and have everything it needs to get through all the stages in the fertilisation process, so a form of natural sperm selection occurs with only the fittest sperm able to fertilise the egg.

Sperm Selection Methods:

HA Sperm Selection: HA Sperm selection with ICSI can be enhanced by using a substance called SpermSlow. SpermSlow is a viscous solution containing hyaluronan (HA) that slows the sperm and embryologists can select the one that responds to the solution.

Polarised Light Egg Visualisation: We can also visualise at the time of ICSI the inside of the egg and the shell of the egg to gain more information about the egg and maybe give insight to its behaviour if poor results have been achieved previously.