Egg Quality plays a key role in IVF success

For successful in vitro fertilization treatment, egg quality is very significant

It is well known that younger women have higher IVF pregnancy rates . Their success rate is better both because they have more eggs; and because these eggs (oocytes) are of better quality. This is why when they do in vitro fertilization treatment at a test tube baby center, their chances of having a baby are higher, as compared to older women, because they produce better quality embryos , in higher numbers.

For IVF treatment, the dream patient with the best prognosis , would ideally be a young woman with a good ovarian reserve of eggs. Second best are young women, even if they have fewer eggs, as the quality of these is more conducive to fertilization, when compared to similar eggs from an older woman. In most older women, the quantity as well quality of the eggs leaves much to be desired when doing in vitro fertilization.

The problem with eggs is that it’s hard to assess their quality when they are checked in the IVF lab afrer retrieval by the embryologist. Under the microscope, they appear as spherical blobs, and the IVF scientist cannot look at an egg and say whether it is of good quality or bad, because they both look the same. The key difference between good eggs and bad eggs is the functional competence  of their intracellular powerhouses called mitochondria. Unfortunately, we cannot test for how well these function as yet. It is only after they are fertilized with the sperm, when the embryologist does a fertilization check on Day 1, that we can distinguish good eggs (the ones which fertilise) from the bad ones (those which do not fertilise). Moreover, while some eggs may go on to fertilize, they embryos they give rise to may not divide well, and this can also be assessed by grading the embryo quality on Day 2 in the IVF lab.

Because the proof of the pudding is in the eating, this means the quality of an egg can be confirmed only by assessing the quality of the embryo which results after its fertilization. Poor quality eggs result in poor quality embryos that are fragmented and divide slowly, as the mitochondrial energy is not able to drive normal cell division. It is possible that cytoplasmic donation could be a key to this problem, but at present, donor eggs are the best solution for older patients who fail in vitro fertilization because of poor egg quality. An egg is considered to be good only if it turns into a good quality embryo. Likewise, an embryo is said to be good only if it becomes a baby after transfer. However, this is still unpredictable.

Dr. Malpani Infertility Clinic is a boutique of the infertility treatments.  We are understand the importance of having a baby. Here is a list of IVF treatments that we offer in order to help you overcome your issue.  For more information Click Here