Application of Equine Oocyte Recovery and Assisted Reproductive Techniques to Clinical Practice

Assisted reproductive techniques (ART) are increasingly used to produce foals from mares with reproductive abnormalities, from stallions with limited semen availability or quality, or both.1-5 While currently available in limited locations, it is possible to provide access to these services in private clinical practice. Most sophisticated reproductive practices can add a little equipment and, with proper preparation and practice, be able to recover oocytes useful for ART. These can then either be used for oocyte transfer or shipped to an ICSI (intracytoplasmic sperm injection) laboratory. Blastocysts resulting from ICSI can be transferred to recipient mares, frozen for future use, or shipped back to the referring veterinarian for transfer.  […]