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Is there any way to tell what my egg quality is?

5 replies

strtng · 12/08/2024 12:37

I'm 29 so in theory egg quality should be ok (my DH is mid 30s). We've got a DC who is 2 and was conceived first month of trying. TTC for just over a year and just had our first IVF privately.
Results: 13 eggs retrieved, 8 mature, 1x day 5 embryo, 2x day 6 embryos. None euploid.

I'm just confused how to separate the effects of protocol, luck, sperm etc from egg quality as obviously different things need to be addressed to improve each one. Is there a way to know?

With sperm there's obviously semen analysis, anything similar for egg quality? (Semen analysis came back ok, v good motility and v good count but morphology low-ish at 4-6% each time we've tested recently)

OP posts:
CortieTat · 12/08/2024 17:25

I’m afraid there’s no test for this. There’s AMH which gives an approximation of the egg reserve (but it can still change to a limited extent and not only downwards) and the AFC which is also an approximation of egg reserve (and can change from cycle to cycle) but there’s no test for the actual genetic errors (aka egg quality). The errors also happen during the meiosis process so just before the egg is released so egg quality is also a dynamic thing. Meiosis is more complex than the regular cell division so as we age it tends to be more error prone.

strawberrylaces12 · 12/08/2024 17:31

The embryologist might be able to give you a bit of basic information about how the eggs look down the microscope during IVF/ICSI.

We've recently experienced total fertilisation failure (a huge shock to the clinic and us) but the embryologist was able to tell me that looking at my eggs down the microscope they looked good quality. She said usually they either look good or poor quality and they can tell by looking. But of course that doesn't show any sort of genetic make up of them or if the activation of them will be likely.

Ironically given this is all science, there doesn't seem to be an exact science to it at all. Some women with low egg reserve and what looks like low quality may have better outcomes than those with higher egg reserve and quality.

GracePKI · 12/08/2024 23:58

Supposedly the egg does the work until day 3 and then the sperm takes over - so if you had good results up to date 3 and then a drop off it could be a sperm issue (particularly as your partner is older than you). If that was the case, you could do a DNA fragmentation test (if not already done). Then work on improving sperm quality (supplements & diet) before your next cycle.

I would also be querying why only 8 of the 13 were mature & whether you need a different trigger or longer stims next time.

You don’t say how many of those 8 fertilised - if they all did & via normal IVF (not ICSI) - I’d take that as another sign that egg quality is OK.

strtng · 13/08/2024 09:30

@GracePKI yes all fertilised. DNA fragmentation is done and it's ok but at the upper end of OK (as in more fragmentation but within normal range)

OP posts:
ivfmeerut · 16/08/2024 08:39

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