What other information do I get about my eggs in the laboratory?

Besides the raw number of eggs retrieved, other information that can be useful to help characterize your reproductive potential (i. e.“how fertile you are”) includes the follicle to egg yield ratio and proportion of mature eggs. Eggs go through developmental stages prior to their release from the ovary and it is only fully mature eggs that have the ability to be fertilized with sperm. Shortly after arriving in the lab from the egg retrieval procedure each egg will be assessed for what stage it is at. Normally we expect a 1:1 ratio from enlarged follicle to egg yield. Any decrease in the proportion of mature eggs can shed light on an otherwise masked fertility issue.