Are 3 fertilized eggs good for IVF?

The number of fertilized eggs could be good or bad depending on how many eggs were inseminated. It means that if we have 3 eggs that have been fertilized, and we have done ICSI on 12 eggs, the outcome is going to be poor because the standard fertilization rate is 80-85%. If we only got 3 eggs and all 3 fertilized, that’s going to be a good outcome for that cycle.

However, that is the first step of fertilization. Then, depending on the age, what we want is day 5 embryos, blastocysts. If we have 3 embryos and the patient is 32, it seems quite likely that we may get 1 or 2 blastocysts. If the patient is 43, and we only have 3 embryos, it seems very difficult that we can end up with a good transfer.

Once more, the fertilization rates, the number of eggs, the number of embryos that we get could be good or bad depending on the patient’s age.

If we only have 3 fertilized eggs and the eggs are good quality and we know there is no issue with the sperm, as long as, those eggs develop to good quality embryos on day 3 so we have 6 to 8 cells that are top grade, then they have a good chance to develop to blastocyst. We must remember that our technologies in the IVF clinics have developed immensely over the years. We are now able through the media that we use and through the process of how we develop the embryos in the lab, can get blastocyst much more successfully than we could years ago. Therefore, if there are 3 top quality 6 to 8 cell embryos, there is a good chance you can get to blastocyst but anything less than that or the quality is less than this, then it is really questionable if it is possible to get to blastocyst. What you would, we would like to see is at least one good quality Blastocyst from these 3 top quality embryos.

Okay, if we have three fertilized eggs, it then depends on the endometrium, we have the embryos, the development of all the eggs; we need to check the embryos to see how it’s going. So it would be good if there are blastocysts on day five or day six.

The chances of that are based on so many variables. There are just too many variables to possibly make any kind of guesstimate on that. It’s such a day by day thing and you just have to take it day by day. If you’ve got three fertilized eggs – great you’ve got three fertilized eggs! Celebrate the three fertilized eggs and wait and see what the next day holds. They’re trying to jump ahead and second guess what might happen with those three fertilized eggs is not going to help you.

A very important thing to know about that is the age of the patient. I’m sorry for that. We, fertility experts, are always talking about that because we don’t know what the quality of the eggs is. So that’s why we are always talking about age because we have the statistics related to age and the quality of the eggs.

Three fertilized eggs is not a very high number. Of course, it will depend on how many eggs we have. So, for example, you can have three eggs from the egg retrieval. Three of them were mature and three of them are getting fertilized. It’s a good thing. It’s a good thing because we have the maximum that we could.

But, of course, if we had, for example, six mature eggs and just three were fertilized. We have to look for other strategies in case we do another cycle to try to increase it if it’s possible. I think that with patients that, for example, are less than 35 years old, three fertilized eggs could lead to have 1-2 embryos to transfer. So probably that would be the outcome. On the other hand, if the patient is over 40, because of age and quality, probably these three fertilized eggs would not meet one or two embryos and probably a maximum of one. There would be no embryo. It is something that is very age-dependent. And of course, it depends on every patient as well because the quality depends on every person.

Again, it depends on the age of the patient and concomitant diseases. For patients under 35, IVF programs are often suitable in a natural cycle. Always, the use of mild stimulation, where we receive one, two, or three oocytes. It is also a good prevention of hyper-stimulation syndrome.