ABSTRACT
After birth, human oocytes remain at prophase I of meiosis until they are stimulated by gonadotropin to resume meiosis before ovulation. Throughout a woman’s lifetime, only a few hundred oocytes will complete meiosis and maturation and be ovulated, while the majority of oocytes will undergo apoptosis. In conventional assisted reproductive technologies, ovarian stimulation is usually utilized to increase the number of available oocytes and embryos, and therefore the pregnancy rate. However, the use of stimulation drugs increases the patient’s cost and suffering, and is associated with side-effects such as nausea, abdominal pain, mood swings, menopausal symptoms, ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS), and a potential cancer risk. The recovery of immature oocytes followed by in-vitro maturation (IVM) and fertilization is an attractive alternative because it reduces the patient’s cost and suffering and avoids the sideeffects associated with ovarian stimulation.
