The relationship between chromosomal abnormalities in the human oocyte and fertilization in vitro.

The relationship between chromosomal abnormalities in the human oocyte and fertilization in vitro was investigated by cytogenetic analysis of an unselected population of oocytes, where failure to achieve fertilization was attributed to dysfunctional spermatozoa. The results demonstrated that 47% of such oocytes were chromosomally abnormal. These data were used to calculate that the incidence of chromosomal abnormalities in oocytes that do, and those that do not develop pronuclei following insemination in vitro is 26.6% and 20.4% respectively. Statistical analysis demonstrated no relationship between chromosomal abnormality in the oocyte and its capacity to achieve fertilization in vitro.