In-vitro fertilization as therapy for male-factor infertility.

In conclusion, IVF is a viable option for the couple with infertility secondary to reduced semen quality unresponsive to routine treatment. The increase in sperm/egg interaction allowed by IVF is rewarded with a pregnancy rate that is not statistically different from that for the overall IVF population. In our last 100 consecutive cycles, after altering our ovulation induction method to produce more oocytes per retrieval attempt, our overall clinical pregnancy rate was 25 per cent. The pregnancy rate for the male-factor patients during this same time period was 20 per cent, a rate similar to the monthly fecundability rate of a normal population of fertile couples. Further, in our hands the sperm penetration assay is of great help in predicting the ability of a human sperm to fertilize a human oocyte.