Egg Factors

Eggs are essential to the success of reproduction because they make a much greater contribution to the developing embryo than the sperm. Women are born with all the eggs they will ever have. Of the approximately half a million eggs in the ovaries of a newborn female, only about 300-400 will be ovulated during a woman’s reproductive years from puberty to menopause. The vast majority of eggs undergo degeneration through a process known as atresia which occurs regardless of pregnancy, breastfeeding or the use of hormonal contraceptives.

The three major areas of egg dysfunction are:

aging which lowers egg viability (What is Age Factor?)
diminished ovarian reserve which reflects low number of eggs in the ovaries (How Do We Test for Ovarian Reserve?)
irregular ovulation which is the hallmark of polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS)

Alta Bates IVF Program provides the full range of infertility services, including IVF, ICSI, MESA, Donor Eggs, Gestational Surrogacy, IUI, Ovulation Induction and Reproductive Surgery. The program was established by Dr. Richard Chetkowski in 1984 and it operates in affiliation with Alta Bates Summit Medical Center in Berkeley, California. The Alta Bates IVF Program offers the best of clinical care to infertile couples, same-sex couples, single men and women in a warm, comfortable, and supportive community hospital setting. Each patient receives personalized care from a single highly experienced physician. Many of our patients have complex infertility factors or have failed treatments elsewhere, so they often benefit from the individualized care, meticulous attention to detail and the depth of clinical experience unique to our program.

Sutter Health is a registered trademark of Sutter Health®, Reg. U.S. Patent. & Trademark office.

"My husband and I would like to thank Dr. Chetkowski and his staff for our twin pregnancy."

Follow Me

Egg Factors

"My husband and I
would like to thank
Dr. Chetkowski and his staff for our twin pregnancy."