A couple who struggled for nearly two decades to conceive is now expecting their first child—thanks to a groundbreaking use of artificial intelligence.
Rosie, 38, and her husband had spent 19 years trying to start a family. They went through 15 failed rounds of in vitro fertilization (IVF) without success. But in early 2025, everything changed at the Columbia University Fertility Center in New York.
Their breakthrough came through a new AI tool known as STAR—short for Sperm Track and Recovery. Developed by Dr. Zev Williams and his research team, STAR uses a powerful algorithm and a special fluidic chip to find rare sperm in semen samples. These are sperm so scarce they often go undetected by even trained embryologists.
Rosie’s husband has a condition called azoospermia, in which no sperm is found in his semen. Until now, options for men with azoospermia were very limited. Couples had to rely on donor sperm or go through invasive surgeries to try and retrieve sperm from the testicles.
But STAR changed that.
Instead of using traditional microscopes, STAR works like AI used in space research—scanning millions of cells to find the one thing it’s looking for. In this case, sperm.
In one test, embryologists spent two full days analyzing a semen sample and found nothing. STAR scanned the same sample and found 44 sperm in just one hour.
“The embryologists really worked hard. They didn’t want to be beaten by a machine,” Dr. Williams told Time magazine.
With the sperm recovered by STAR, no extra IVF procedures were needed. Rosie’s eggs were fertilized immediately. She became pregnant in March 2025.
Now four months along, Rosie says the experience still feels surreal. After so many years of heartbreak, success came when she least expected it.
Dr. Williams believes STAR is just the beginning of how AI can transform infertility treatment. “AI may help us uncover biological issues we’ve been missing for years,” he explained.
The success of STAR offers hope to millions of couples dealing with male infertility. It proves that sometimes, the smallest breakthroughs—like spotting one rare sperm—can lead to the biggest miracles.
Related topics:
