Egg quality

What is egg quality?

All women have a fixed number of eggs in their body, which are released during ovulation and which can be fertilised by a sperm in order to create a baby. Many people believe that how many eggyou have is important, however, this is one of those situations in which quality is better than quantity.

Egg quality refers to how prepared your eggs are to develop into embryos once they have been fertilised. A healthy egg has to have the correct number of chromosomes and the ability to combine them with those of the sperm during meiosis. Unfortunately, some eggs just don’t have enough chromosomes to successfully develop into embryos, which leads to difficulty conceiving. In order to conceive, your eggs must be able to divide via mitosis once they have been fertilised. Healthy eggs contain mitochondria, an important cellular substance which provides them with the energy they need in order to do their job!

What causes poor egg quality?

Every woman will have some unsuccessful eggs, however, if you are 15-30 years old the healthy eggs should outweigh the “unsuccessful” and sometimes dead eggs. Apart from age, there are some other conditions that can contribute to poor egg quality, including:

Is it the quantity or the quality of your eggs that matters?
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• Health problems
• Smoking
• Poor ovarian reserves
• Endometriosis
• Chemotherapy
• Genetic problems

What you need to know

• Women aged 15 – 25 have a 40% chance of conceiving during every menstrual cycle.
• If you are over 40 your chances will decrease to less than 25%.
• Even though some eggs implant into uterine wall properly, they may not be strong or healthy enough to divide, which will result in a miscarriage.

Remember: If you have been trying to conceive and you have noticed that it is taking longer than you thought it would, you should visit your doctor and request a fertility test. This test will tell you whether you are ovulating and whether your eggs are healthy enough to divide. Good luck ladies!