# Embryo/egg quality



## suzi (Nov 9, 2002)

Hi

Please could you tell me if you can tell the quality of an egg before it is fertilised and the chrmonsonal quality of sperm before they are joined together?
Also, post fertilisation what are the indications of success - is it just based on fragmentation? And can the embryologist test to see if it is the egg or sperm that has caused this fragmentation?
I've read a lot about chromsone defects in eggs, but I also understand that sperm can have chromosone abnormailities (particularly with advancing age) would a wash and swim detect these please and are these chromosone defects as common in men as women? 

Many thanks


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## peter (Oct 2, 2002)

Dear Suzi,

Interesting questions!

Egg quality is currently assessed purely by the appearance, we have no other reliable ways of assessing this at this time. Research is underway however so watch this space!

The overall chromosomal make-up of both partners can be relatively easily checked but it is difficult to assess sperm and impossible to assess the single sperm which actually does the fertilisation.

Embryo quality is again down to appearance at present although there has been some work done on nutrient uptake by menryos and also on the appearance of pronuclei (the male and female DNA) in relation to quality. These are largely research subjects at present but some clinics do use pronuclear morphology to predict embryo quality. The general parameters of embryos quality used today are the extent of cell division and the level of fragmentation.

I am not aware of any specific data relating to chromosomal abnormalities in relation to male and female. However egg quality does decrease with age (as illustrated by the increased risk of Downs' syndrome in the over 40's). The same applies to sperm but we are not sure about what the age changes are and how they relate to embryos quality.

Hope this helps,

Peter


suzi said:


> Hi
> 
> Please could you tell me if you can tell the quality of an egg before it is fertilised and the chrmonsonal quality of sperm before they are joined together?
> Also, post fertilisation what are the indications of success - is it just based on fragmentation? And can the embryologist test to see if it is the egg or sperm that has caused this fragmentation?
> ...


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