On the day of your partners pick-up, a sperm sample will of course have to be produced and handed in at the lab, for the fertilization of the eggs.

 

For information regarding the practical aspects of this see sperm samples.
Fresh sperm is preferable for use in IVF treatment. This optimizes the chances of fertilization taking place successfully. For the production of your sample, you will need to go to the ward VPE 03 (level +1). In order to give the lab the time required to prepare your sample for its introduction to the eggs, you will have to produce it in the morning between 8am and 11am. The precise time will be determined by the DM. Once the sample has been delivered, you should remain available for another hour in case the semen preparation shows that the sperm is not sufficient. In that case you will have to supply a second sample.

    

If you are going to be unable to be present on the day of your partners pick-up, or if you think that you won't be able to produce a sample at the crucial moment, you can have a sample frozen in advance.  The sample can then be used on the day of the pick-up to fertilize the eggs, provided that the quality is adequate after thawing. If donor sperm is to be used, this is always thawed sperm. You need to make an appointment with the Andrology Laboratory for the delivery of the sample.

   
Sperm extraction for ICSI
Thanks to medical advances, couples from which the man has no viable sperm in his semen can nevertheless be helped to having children of their own, without the need to always use donor sperm. If you are one of these men, there are a number of specialized interventions which will often result in the retrieval of useable sperm.

Thanks to the existence of the ICSI technique (the injection of one sperm into one egg) only a few sperm are required. They don't even have to be fully mature. As soon as they are formed, sperm cells contain all the genetic information from the father and can be used in the laboratory.

If sperm is obtained via an intervention, it is always used for ICSI. The intervention will take place on the same day as your partners' pick-up. Fresh material is always preferable for use in ICSI, however the interventions often result in sufficient sperm for more than one ICSI session, in which case it will be frozen for possible use in future treatments.

The type of procedure used to retrieve sperm depends on the nature of your fertility problem. For more information see sperm extraction for ICSI.

Sperm from the Epididymis: MESA or PESA

Sperm from the Testicle: TESE or FNA
PESA, TESE and FNA can either be performed under local or general anaesthetic. MESA is always performed under general. See procedures for anaeshetics.

The choice between the various procedures and the type of anaesthetic will be decided by your doctor. The decision will be made based upon the results of the preliminary investigations, but also according to what is most appropriate to you situation.

Artificially induced ejaculation
For men who are unable to ejaculate, there is the option of vibro- or electrostimulation.
Vibro stimulation is a procedure without anaesthetic; electro ejaculation is performed under general anaesthetic, or if the man is paralysed, without anaesthetic.