Equine Embryo Transfer

 have a new protocol to increase the likelihood of getting two embryos in one cycle, which would increase the chances of establishing a successful pregnancy in a recipient. 

The chances of success will be determined by the fertility of the donor mare, the quality of the semen, and the quality of the recipient. If the donor mare is young and has no fertility problems and the semen is of excellent quality, the chances of getting an embryo are 70 to 75 per cent. If the recipient is a young, healthy mare, the chances that the embryo is accepted by the surrogate are about 80 per cent. 

If you have a recipient mare, it is important she gets examined and her cycle followed to ensure that it is normal. Otherwise it is better to use a mare from a facility that has a few to choose from. That way the chances of success are better.

Besides competition mares, other uses of ET are for mares that have repeatedly lost their pregnancies, mares with histories of uterine infections, or mares with other abnormalities of the reproductive tract. When the donor mare has problems, the chances of getting an embryo are about 50 per cent per try. Once the recipient is pregnant the chances of her having a normal pregnancy are exactly the same as if she was carrying her own foal.