In Vitro Fertilization

Both classic In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) are techniques developed to fertilize the woman's eggs in the Lab. ICSI emerged as an alternative to IVF for significant male factor problems.


IVF technique is the most similar to natural fertilization process. In a culture dish where eggs are placed, selected sperm are deposited after processing the sperm sample. Thus the sperm, with no external help, are the ones going through the layers of the egg in order to fertilize it.


In Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), once that the sperm sample has been processed to select the best sperm, these are deposited into a microdrop with a dense media to slower their movement and thus select the best morphologically sperm to inject into the egg, through a micromanipulator.

This technique allows a better sperm selection (especially in case of altered morphology) and it also ensures its entrance into the egg (mainly in case of severe oligozoospermia).


  1. Previous evaluation
  2. It's necessary to perform a complete evaluation of the couple to decide the best technique (IVF or ICSI), especially of the male factor. In some cases it's necessary to recur to donated gametes and therefore to perform donors selection. The use of one technique or the other will depend on the aetiology of the patient using his gametes.


  3. Controlled ovarian stimulation
  4. Patient has to take medication to obtain a higher number of eggs in this cycle. Ovarian stimulation is controlled through vaginal scans, to check the follicle growth in each ovary, and through blood tests to know hormone levels. Based on these two parameters medication doses will be adjusted.


  5. Egg collection and gametes processing
  6. To obtain the eggs inside of each follicle a vaginal punction-aspiration is performed through ultrasound scan. This intervention lasts around 10-15 minutes and it's performed under light general anaesthetic. Once the eggs are evaluated and its maturation is known, male patient is asked to provide the sperm sample for its preparation in the lab. Both eggs and sperm are processed to optimize their fertilization capacity.


  • Previous failure of IUI cycles (in this case mixed IVF-ICSI will be performed)

  • Mild male factor

  • Women with bilateral tube obstruction

  • Endometriosis


  • Significant male factor (low sperm count, motility or morphology)

  • Partial or total fertilization failure in previous cycle through conventional IVF

  • Previous failure of IUI cycles (in this case mixed IVF-ICSI will be performed)

  • PGS techniques requiring DNA amplification

  • Antisperm Antibodies

  • Frozen eggs


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    We have a tailor-made international department set up specially to take care of our visitors from overseas. Their mission is to forge a direct link between the patient's medical team in their home country, and the one in CREA. This allows for a smooth flow of information, and lets the team deal with any unforeseen issues in good time.

    To contact us, please mail to international@creavalencia.com

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