Testicular Sperm Extraction (TESE)

This minor – usually open, surgical procedure obtains spermatozoa directly from the testicle of males who for one reason or another do not have sperm in their ejaculates. This procedure, depending on the patient, can provide sufficient sperm for an in vitro fertilization procedure called intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), and perhaps enough left over to cryopreserve for a subsequent IVF attempt. On the other hand, it may only yield enough for the current cycle.

Because of the uncertainty of finding useable sperm, it is often recommended to patients that they arrange ahead of time for “backup” in the form of frozen, donor-derived sperm, should the procedure fail to obtain sperm sufficient to perform the ICSI procedure on the partner’s eggs.