Acadiana

Q.  IS IT POSSIBLE TO HARVEST EGGS FROM A DECEASED MARE? 

A.  YES! This is possible within a certain time frame. 

Here, Dr. Cramer is extracting oocytes to be fertilized by intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), and transferred into a recipient mare. This procedure is normally performed on mares who are alive and well, but can also be an option for someone who loses a mare suddenly and would like the opportunity to raise a foal from her.

• More about ICSI • Some mares have trouble producing foals with "standard" breeding methods. Although Embryo Transfer is a very useful reproductive tool to treat many types of infertility, a mare must be able to support fertilization and early embryo development to be a successful donor. Abnormal ovulation, blocked oviducts, chronic uterine infections, severe cervical abnormalities, etc. create an unhealthy environment for an embryo. Mares with such conditions might not be successful embryo donors but could quite possibly be candidates for successful oocyte recover and subsequent fertilization. For this procedure an oocyte (egg) is extracted from the donor mares follicle prior to ovulation and cultured until mature. Using ICSI (Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection), the oocytes are fertilized in the laboratory. In this procedure, a single sperm cell is selected and micro-injected into the matured egg. The oocyte is then cultured and allowed to divide to become an embryo. Once the embryo becomes a blastocyst (7- 9 days), it is transferred to the uterus of a recipient mare. ICSI uses one selected sperm cell and can use very small amounts of frozen semen.