Is ICSI associated with higher birth defects ?

[hopefullsosbry]

Hi

We have had a failed round of ivf (5trasnfers) and two natural miscarriages, my partner got sperm DNA fragmentation test done and it recommends ICSI. I am not sure about ICSI as I have heard there can be higher risks birth defects, just not sure what to do and I guess looking for success stories or advice from anyone that’s has ICSI , as had 5 miscarriages and don’t want to put ourself in a position for more miscarriages.

@hopefullsosbry in European clinics they often only offer ICSI, some even refuse to do PGT a testing without it. They feel that picking up one healthy looking sperm and injecting it into the egg will cause less chance of genetic abnormalities than risking IVF where multiple sperm are trying to fertilise the same egg. You may want to look into the sperm preparation method, people with high dna fragmentation benefit from using a sperm chip method rather than centrifuge which can cause more damage.

There is a very good subreddit on the subject where you'll be able to find info on supplements etc reddit.com/r/dnafragmentation/s/Gh4yNTj0Wf

I have an ICSI baby, he's 11 weeks on weds and is hitting milestones ahead of target, born 10lbs with no birth defects.

@hopefullsosbry we were told by our consultant that the risk of birth defects in a natural pregnancy is around 5% which is similar to standard ivf but it rises to 9% for icsi. They mentioned this is more likely to be to do with the population having icsi rather than the method itself.

we were given this study for reference…

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22559061/

having said that, we know plenty of people with happy and healthy ICSI babies and I guess there are risks with everything x

I've read the same as @Anonbaby and the research cannot determine whether the increase is due to ICSI itself or because of the infertility reasons. The latter makes complete sense to me and the percentage is still very small. This didn't put me off ICSI x

Thank you for toot replies and advise everyone .. it’s such a hard decision to make .. i am so undecided what to do. I will look at the links you have kindly sent, @Gardenlady543 do you know is the chip method available in the UK or just in EU clinics ? Thanks