Boys conceived by intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) would inherit the fertility problems of their fathers. This is the conclusion reached in a study conducted by Belgian scientists and published in the Human Reproduction journal.
In the case of male infertility, the proposed solution is to turn to intracytoplasmic sperm injection – a MAP technique which involves selecting a sperm for direct injection into an egg.
Scientists at the University of Brussels followed up 54 young men between 18 and 22 years of age, born as a result of ICSI, and compared them to a group of 57 men of the same age whose fathers did not have any fertility problems. Based on scientific analysis, the men born through ICSI are “three times more likely to have a sperm count lower than that deemed to be ‘normal’ by the WHO[1]“. Their sperm count is two-fold lower than that of men of the same age conceived naturally, and twice less mobile.
Professor André Van Steirteghem who led the study is not surprised: “Genetic factors are known to play a role in infertility”. Their publication points out that “ICSI does not treat infertility but is a means of circumventing it – the problem is passed on to the next generation”.
[1] 15 million per millilitre of sperm.
BBC (6/10/2016)