What is the minimum sperm count for IVF treatment?
It is difficult to estimate the exact number of sperm cells required for an IVF to be a success. Obviously, you need at least one healthy sperm cell, but other than that, the success rate relies on various factors like your general fertility and plain luck. On this page, we have listed our recommendations when ordering donor sperm for IVF.
Minimum sperm count for IVF
Determining a minimum sperm count for IVF treatment can be challenging, as various factors impact the success rates. However, research from the University of Göttingen has found that the minimum sperm count to be successful with IVF is at least 10 million sperm per millilitre. Besides the sperm count, 30% of your sperm cells should be motile (sperm motility) and 15% of those moving progressively. This means that an ejaculation should contain 3 million motile sperm cells. Sperm count and sperm motility are the two most important factors in terms of sperm quality and your chances of achieving pregnancy.
At Cryos, we recommend ordering 1 x IUI straw MOT5 or higher for IVF with donor sperm. A sperm straw from Cryos contains 0.5 millilitres of high-quality donor sperm, meaning that each straw has at least 2.5 million moving sperm cells. However, as the donors have been thoroughly screened before donating, we can ensure that a MOT5 sperm straw is sufficient to create a pregnancy.
Before ordering any amount or type of donor sperm, we advise you to speak with your clinic to ensure that you get the order right and according to their recommendations.
Minimum sperm count for ICSI
ICSI is very similar to IVF, the only difference is how fertilisation occurs. In ICSI, a single sperm cell is injected straight into the egg. In IVF, the sperm is placed alongside the egg in a petri dish. As a result, you need fewer moving sperm cells for successful fertilisation in ICSI. At Cryos, we recommend ordering a MOT2 or higher for ICSI.
Sperm quality explained
Many people are curious about the minimum sperm count required for a certain type of treatment. However, sperm count is not the only factor to consider during fertility treatment. Sperm quality consists of three factors:
- Sperm count: First and foremost, there must be a certain number of sperm cells for a pregnancy to occur, which is called sperm count. If your ejaculation contains below 15 million sperm cells per millilitre of semen, you are considered to have a low sperm count.
- Sperm motility: To fertilise the egg, the sperm cells must also be motile (sperm motility). The average number of motile sperm cells in an ejaculation is 40%, meaning that 40% can swim normally. If the sperm motility is less than 40%, treatments like IUI and IVF can increase your chances of success.
- Sperm morphology: The least important of the three is the way the sperm cells are shaped (morphology). 20% of the sperm cells should have a round head and one tail, which is how a normal sperm cell looks.
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How much sperm is needed?
In theory, only one sperm cell is needed to fertilise an egg and create a pregnancy. However, the journey from the cervix to the fallopian tubes is quite hard for the sperm cells, meaning that you often need more than one sperm cell to create a pregnancy. Below you can see our recommendations for the amount of sperm to order, based on each fertility treatment. These recommendations are presented with three factors: The number of straws, the type of sperm, and the motility needed:
- IUI with donor sperm: 1 x IUI straw MOT10 or higher
- IVF with donor sperm: 1 x IUI straw MOT5 or higher
- ICSI with donor sperm: 1 x IUI straw MOT2 or higher
- ICI with donor sperm: 2 x ICI or IUI straws MOT10
Ordering donor sperm for IVF
If you are considering getting pregnant by using a sperm donor for IVF, we are happy to help you on your journey. Feel free to contact our Customer Care Consultants, with any questions about treatment or how to order donor sperm.