Not eligible to donate eggs because I produce grainy eggs

Hello ladies, here’s my sad story…

I just did my very 1st egg donor cycle… it was overall fantastic, I was a known egg donor and my relationship with the recipient was strong. But yesterday I got a phone call from the clinic and they said all my eggs are poor quality eggs – grainy eggs to be more specific.

To see the gutted look on my recipients face made me cry non-stop… We’ve put too many efforts on that, and money. I’m devastated because I’m just 22 and I cannot come to terms with the fact that mine are not prime eggs. I produced 20 eggs!!! 20!!! 10 fertilized, but because their poor quality, embryologists say my embryos are unlikely to make it to day 5.

I’ve done some research and my age isn’t the factor, nor is my diet or fitness… I haven’t been sick – just the flu after day 3-4 of my injections. I think I haven’t been on the hormones long enough so I’m gonna ask this to my doctor. I was just taking injections for just over a week before ovum pick-up. Maybe it’s really me who has the poor quality oocytes 🙁

The thing is all my tests came back clear and with awesome results. Then why do I produce poor quality eggs?

Hello SAMANTHA,

First of all, I’m very sorry for what has happened to you. Egg quality may be influenced by several factors in addition to the age factor. Environmental, genetic, and endocrine factors may have an influence too. There’s not one single test that can be performed to determine egg quality inside the ovaries, but the ultimate test is the ability to become fertilized and subsequently to produce normal embryos, likely to develop.

Environmental factors include exposure to radiation and X-rays, as they have long been known to cause damage to the DNA of eggs. Also, exposure to extremes of temperature and humidity can lead to egg damage. Exposure to environmental pollutants (e.g. organochlorides) may affect the normal growth cycle of eggs as well.

The environment within the ovaries is very important, as it helps nurture and support eggs. Inside its ovarian follicle, an egg may be preparing itself for ovulation. It is the follicle’s responsibility to establish and maintain the appropriate ratios of the female hormones (progesterone and estrogen). Any alteration in the normal hormone ratio can negatively affect egg quality.

Also, premature exposure to the LH hormone or to high levels of androgens (i.e. male hormones) can affect egg production in the very early stages of development inside the ovarian follicles. Patients with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) may produce higher than normal levels of testosterone, and therefore poorer quality eggs through ART.

These may be the causes behind your grainy eggs, but my advice is that you have the adequate tests done for the precise causes to be found,

All the best