Assisted hatching may be a laboratory procedure that’s sometimes performed alongside in vitro fertilization treatment (IVF). IVF consists of blending ovules with sperm during a laboratory (instead of inside an adult female body, as in natural conception). Eggs are considered fertilized when a sperm manages to penetrate the egg. During IVF, fertilized eggs are controlled for 3 to six days as they divide and become embryos. the simplest embryo is often placed within the woman’s uterus (embryo transfer) within the hope of helping her get pregnant or it are often frozen for future use. While the embryo develops, it’s surrounded by cells that form a protective layer (zona pellucida). The embryo naturally emerges from this shell because it grows. Occasionally, the doctor may ask the laboratory to form a little “crack” within the outer layer of the embryo just before placing it on the adult female body (assisted hatching). The hope is that assisted hatching can help the embryo expand, implant within the uterine wall and eventually cause pregnancy.
Are there other reasons for assisted hatching?
If a pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) is planned, assisted hatching of embryos on the third day after fertilization can facilitate PGD biopsy. During a biopsy, a little amount of tissue is far away from the external cells of the embryo (trophectoderm) around the fifth day after fertilization (blastocyst stage). it’s easier to ascertain the trophectoderm and take away the cells in an embryo incubation.
