Programs & Services -

Male Infertility

Forty percent of infertile couples are unable to conceive because the man's sperm production is less than optimal. This can be due to reduced numbers of sperm, reduced movement or motility or abnormally shaped sperm. At Reproductive Medicine Associates of Connecticut, we focus on establishing the correct diagnosis and using advanced treatment techniques to make it possible for many who are diagnosed with male factor infertility to conceive.

If indicated, men are referred for evaluation to a urologist who specializes in diagnosing and treating infertile men. This evaluation includes a medical history, physical examination, complete semen analysis and, if appropriate, sperm function tests.

Once we determine the most appropriate course of treatment for each couple, alternatives may include medical or surgical procedures to increase sperm counts, intrauterine inseminations with or without superovulation therapy, in vitro fertilization (IVF) with intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) or possibly the use of donated sperm.

Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI)
For men with severe male factor infertility, we can perform a process of micromanipulation called intracytoplasmic sperm injection, or ICSI. With this technique, the embryologist injects a single sperm into each egg retrieved as part of the in vitro fertilization (IVF) cycle. Using ICSI, an egg can be fertilized by a single sperm that otherwise would be unable to penetrate the zona pellucida (the permeable barrier around the egg) and bind to the egg.

We offer ICSI to men whose sperm have severe abnormalities or have failed to fertilize eggs in previous IVF cycles; men who have congenital or acquired absence or obstructions of the ejaculatory ducts; men who have had unsuccessful vasectomy reversals; and men who have spinal cord injuries or pituitary deficiencies.