Although millions of oocytes are formed during embryo and fetal development in the cow, only a small fraction of these will form a developmentally competent oocyte and be fertilised. Development to competence relies on an intimate contact between the oocyte and the surrounding somatic cells in ovarian follicles, via both direct cell-cell contact and paracrine signalling. An important aspect of oocyte maturation is the segregation of homologous chromosomes and subsequently sister chromatids to form a haploid oocyte. Furthermore, the cytoplasm needs to be prepared for the formation of pronuclei and nuclear reprogramming to form a totipotent zygote. Conditions such as high levels of fatty acids or oxidative stress constrain the developmental competence of oocytes, and a better insight into these processes may help improve in vitro and in vivo oocyte maturation success. In addition, identification of the developmentally competent oocyte is useful for the efficiency of (artificial) reproduction.