Conventional IVF (cIVF)
Adding sperm to the culture medium containing the eggs is called insemination. This is followed several hours later by fertilization, when the sperm enters the egg. In conventional IVF eggs are inseminated with many sperm and left in the incubator overnight.
One of the drawbacks of cIVF is that fertilization failure may occur. Studies suggest failure may occur in 5-20% of cases. For this reason, Albany IVF routinely recommends intracytoplasmic sperm injection for the fertilization step in our IVF program.