In a first-of-its-kind study published recently in the journal Reproductive Biomedicine Online, doctors have expressed the apprehension that baby boys conceived via the sophisticated intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) procedure - which involves the direct injection of a single sperm into a female egg – apparently inherit fertility problems from their fathers.

Earlier studies already having noted that one of the distinguishing factors between boys conceived using ICSI technique and those conceived naturally is that the former generally have ring fingers shorter than their index fingers.

With approximately one million children across Europe born through the ICSI or IVF treatment, the new study raises the likelihood that new and growing generation of boys may have difficulties in having children of their own.

However, researchers have not been able to reach to any sure-shot conclusion because the ICSI technique – started witnessing a widespread use only in the 1990s; and, as such, the babied conceived via this method are presently not yet old enough to have children.

Suggesting that ICSI method of conception should be used only in those cases where it is absolutely indispensable, Alastair Sutclife, the study’s lead author and a paediatrician at the Institute of Child Health, said: “We don’t yet know the implication of the findings because the children are very young, but we need to inform people about the possible risks of the ICSI procedure.”