Obesity is one of major health problems across the world that negatively impact many body systems and organs including reproductive system. The objective of this study was to examine the effect of body-mass index (BMI) on the outcomes of intra-cytoplasmic sperms injection (ICSI). Eighty five women entering an ICSI program in the fertility center of Al-Sadr medical city / Al-Najaf Al-Ashraf, from January till April 2015, were enrolled in this study and divided according to BMI to normal weight group [(BMI 18.5-24.9 kg/m2) (n=22)], overweight group [(BMI 25-29.9 kg/m2) (n=43)] and obese group [(BMI≥30 kg/m2) (n=20)]. The patients underwent standard controlled ovarian hyperstimulation protocols and ICSI procedures. The outcome measures in the form of embryological outcomes and most importantly pregnancy rates were studied. The results revealed a significantly negative impact of high BMI in obese women group on total oocytes number retrieved (p value 0.021), mature oocytes number [oocytes in meiosis II (M II)] (p value 0.003), good quality oocytes number (p value 0.005), grade I embryos number (p value 0.040) and clinical pregnancy rate (p value 0.001). On behalf of these results, it is worthy to encourage women with high BMI to lower their body weight before entering an ICSI program.
