What it means

Egg quality refers to how healthy and capable an egg is to develop into a normal embryo. It’s not about how many eggs there are, but whether an egg can go through fertilisation, grow properly, and support early development.

When it’s used

This term often comes up when discussing IVF outcomes, especially when embryos do not develop as expected or when results differ between cycles.

Why people get confused

Many people focus on egg quantity, like how many eggs were retrieved. But having more eggs does not always mean better outcomes. Quality and quantity are different, and quality cannot be directly measured before fertilisation.

Think of it this way

If egg count is about how many chances there are, egg quality is about how strong each chance is.

What to expect

Egg quality is not something that can be clearly seen or tested beforehand. It is usually understood based on how eggs fertilise and how embryos develop over time, so it often becomes clearer only during the IVF process.