The highest pregnancy rates with this approach and the least pain and discomfort to the male require that these sperm retrieval procedures be performed microsurgically, and not with either crude needlesticks or gross surgical techniques. The techniques of sperm retrieval and ICSI were originally developed by us in Brussels, Belgium, and in St. Louis, Missouri.
T here are two types of azoospermia, obstructive and non-obstructive.
Obstructive azoospermia can be caused by vasectomy, congenital absence of vas, poorly performed hernia type surgery, or epididymal scarring from prior infections. However, when the obstruction is irreparable, the man's sterility, until recently, had been considered hopeless. I n cases of obstructive azoospermia, sperm aspiration with ICSI will give the same chance for getting pregnant as any couple with a normal sperm count undergoing IVF . We can micro-inject a single retrieved sperm directly into the substance of the egg and get normal fertilization. Virtually all couples have enough sperm to be frozen and stored.