EXPLORING THE STAGES OF EMBRYO DEVELOPMENT
CONTENTS
Many people thinking about starting or growing their family through in vitro fertilisation (IVF) have questions about the stages of embryo development. They want to know what happens to their embryos during the IVF process as they develop in the laboratory and, eventually, in the uterus. We are here to answer that question.
What are the stages of embryo development?
A sperm and an egg must join to form an embryo. This is true whether it happens in the IVF laboratory or in a woman's body. This fertilised egg, also known as a zygote, contains just a few cells. However, it will eventually become what we call an embryo. The next step in the journey is the development of the blastocyst. About three days after fertilisation, the zygote will have roughly six to 10 cells. By day five or six, the zygote has become a blastocyst of about 60 to 100 cells. This rapidly dividing group of cells develops the inner cell mass, which will become the various specialised cells within the embryo. It also forms an outer cell mass, which will become the placenta.
One of the most important stages of embryo development follows in the form of implantation. During this period, one of the IVF embryos is transferred at the blastocyst stage. The hope is that the embryo will implant in the lining of the uterus and begin to grow and develop there. About two weeks after the embryo transfer, a pregnancy test is carried out at our centre. If the result is positive, monitoring continues for a few weeks until care is handed over to the obstetrician.
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