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. 2025 Jul;51(1):104859.
doi: 10.1016/j.rbmo.2025.104859. Epub 2025 Feb 3.

'Blame it on my youth': when very young age of oocyte donors appears to be associated with poorer embryo development

Marta Roca-Feliu  1 , Elisabet Clua  2 , Maria Carme Pons  2 , Sandra García  2 , Thomas Freour  3 , Nikolaos P Polyzos  4
Affiliations

'Blame it on my youth': when very young age of oocyte donors appears to be associated with poorer embryo development

Marta Roca-Feliu et al. Reprod Biomed Online. 2025 Jul.

Abstract

Research question: Is the age of oocyte donors associated with usable and top-quality blastocyst rates?

Design: Retrospective cross-sectional study (January 2016-October 2022) of 1738 oocyte recipient cycles with culture to blastocyst stage. Cycles were categorized according to the age of oocyte donors (Group I, <20 years; Group II, 20-25 years; Group III, ≥26 years). Usable and top-quality blastocyst rates were compared using chi-squared test. For the multivariable analysis, a generalized logistic mixed model was applied to estimate the odds for every endpoint. The probabilities of obtaining one usable blastocyst and one top-quality blastocyst based on the number of inseminated oocytes were estimated.

Results: The usable blastocyst rate was 42.8%, and this differed significantly with the age of the oocyte donor: 33.2% for Group I, 42.9% for Group II, and 43.5% for Group III (P < 0.001). When adjusting for covariates, the usable blastocyst rate remained significantly lower for Group I compared with Group III (OR 0.65, 95% CI 0.49-0.86). The top-quality blastocyst rate was 56.7%, and this did not differ significantly with the age of the oocyte donor (P = 0.565). In order to have the same 90% likelihood of obtaining at least one usable blastocyst as the reference group (Group III), two more oocytes (six versus four) are required when the oocyte donor is aged <20 years. Similarly, three more oocytes (12 versus nine) are needed to have the same 90% chance of obtaining at least one top-quality blastocyst.

Conclusions: In comparison with oocyte donors aged ≥26 years, those aged <20 years have a significantly lower usable blastocyst rate but a comparable top-quality blastocyst rate. These findings allow for adjustment of the number of oocytes assigned to recipients based on the age of the donor to ensure comparable outcomes across age groups while preventing the creation of too many supernumerary embryos.

Keywords: Age of oocyte donor; Number of oocytes; Recipient outcomes; Top-quality blastocyst rate; Usable blastocyst rate.

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