ICSI

There are trained professionals all over the USA that can recover oocytes from donor mares and have them shipped to Reliance In Vitro. The closest facility to our lab offering OPU is the Lazy E Ranch.

OPU can be done with any number of follicles, however, the more follicles a mare has, the more oocytes are available for recovery, and the more opportunities we have to create embryos. On average 10+ follicles yields successful results.

All breeding factors can affect ICSI results. ICSI is still breeding at the end of the day. Anything from mare factors to stallion factors, to human factors can influence results.

Oocyte quality varies considerably among individual mares and demonstrates a progressive decline with donor age. The number of follicles, health status of the donor can also be limiting factors. The quality of semen used- how well it was frozen, how it was stored and sperm motility and morphology can influence reproductive outcomes as well.

Yes, more than one stallion can be used per ICSI session. It is recommended that at least 8 mature oocytes be used to one stallion to give the best chance for one embryo forming.

The vitrification protocol currently used in our laboratory has produced the same pregnancy rate as that of fresh embryos. The advantage of vitrification is that these embryos can be thawed at a time when the supply of quality recipients is greater, contributing significantly to successful results.

There are many recipient mare facilities that have mares available for fresh and/or frozen embryo transfer. We recommend that you have a recipient mare contract in place before breeding season begins to reserve your mare(s) with them. We are happy to send your embryo to whichever facility you wish to partner with.