How PCOS And ART Are Reshaping Fertility Conversations
Infertility, recurrent miscarriages, and irregular menstrual cycles can be signs of poor egg quality – meaning the eggs are unable to be fertilised or develop into a healthy embryo. This condition is a leading contributor to female infertility and is often associated with factors such as age, genetic predisposition, hormonal imbalances, and environmental influences.
As women age, egg quality can decline, potentially resulting in chromosomal abnormalities that affect pregnancy success. Addressing poor egg quality involves lifestyle changes, supplements, advanced reproductive technologies like IVF with genetic testing, and sometimes egg donation.
It is important to seek medical help to navigate this complex aspect of fertility.
A developing egg is called an oocyte. It is important to define Oocytes before explaining how their quality relates to Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and assisted reproductive technology (ART).
Specifically, an oocyte is an immature egg cell of the animal’s ovary. The common name for an oocyte is egg cell. In humans, one oocyte matures during the menstrual cycle, becoming an ootid and then an oocyte, while several others partially mature and then disintegrate.
According to experts, Assisted reproductive technologies (ART) are any fertility-related treatments in which eggs or embryos are manipulated. Procedures where only sperm are manipulated, such as intrauterine inseminations, are not considered under this definition.
Polycystic ovary syndrome is a condition where you have few, unusual, or very long periods. Some experts define it as a hormonal disorder causing enlarged ovaries with small cysts on the outer edges.
Dr Taiwo Orebamjo is an experienced Consultant Obstetrician and a medical administration expert from the Kingston Academy of Learning and Career College Canada. He is a post-graduate of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, London. The Research Fellow in assisted conception at the St. George’s Teaching Hospital in Tooting London, is also the Consultant Obstetrician &Gynaecologist, Medical Director, at Parklande Specialist Hospital & Lifeshore Fertility and IVF Clinic.