The struggle to get pregnant is real. For many, infertility is a battle that seems to never end but there is hope in technology, nutrition, and patience. In Vitro Fertilization is an assisted reproductive technology (ART) commonly referred to as IVF.
IVF is the process of fertilization by extracting eggs, retrieving a sperm sample, and then manually combining an egg and sperm in a laboratory dish. The embryo(s) is then transferred to the uterus.
This video shows how an embryo develops within its first five days.
00:00:00 This is Dr Raewyn Teirney (Gynecologist and fertility doctor) – what you are looking at is a video of an embryo developing over 5 days. It is the fertilization of an egg and the cell division to become an embryo.
00:00:13 Here is the egg seen through an embryoscope videoing the fertilization of the egg and cell division to become an embryo.
00:00:30 What you are seeing now is cell division of a fertilized egg into two separate cells. This is the beginning of cell division.
00:00:41 The embryo is now two days old and what you see is it has divided into four cells.
00:00:48 This is the outer eggshell called zona pellucida
00:01:02 The embryo is now three days old, and there is further cell division. The cells are looking very even… and so far this is a nice looking embryo… it’s developing nicely.
00:01:16 Soon what you will see after multiple divisions is the embryo will start compacting
00:01:25 The embryo is starting to compact now, all the cells are fusing together and compacting to form one large mass and we call this a morula
00:01:31 This is about a day four embryo, which has a good looking appearance
00:01:40 The embryo is continuing to change and is becoming what is called a blastocyst (day 5 embryo), which is what we would normally see of an embryo that is about to enter the uterus of a woman to hopefully implant.
00:02:00 Here is the inner-cell mass – and these cells become the baby. All of the outer cells are called the trophectoderm and this is what is becomes the placenta
00:02:10 Inside is a cavity of fluid – this is a nice looking embryo and this will certainly be transferred back into the uterus of a woman and help her to have a baby
