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Fig 4. A view of the incubator - the heart of an IVF lab.
About 18 hours after insemination, the embryologist checks to see how many eggs have fertilized. This is called a pronuclear check, and normally fertilized embryos at this time are single cell, with 2 pronuclei. The pronucleus appears as a clear bubble within the embryo, and the male pronucleus represents the genetic contribution of the husband, while the female pronucleus represents the contribution of the wife. When these fuse, a new life, with a unique genetic composition is formed. Abnormally fertilized embryos (for example, those with three pronuclei), or those which have failed to fertilize, are discarded, or used for research.
Fig 5. A normal 2-PN embryo on Day 1. This is a good quality embryo, because the two pronuclei (the clear bubbles in the center) are touching each other; and the pronucleoli they contain are aligned properly.
© Dr. Aniruddha Malpani and Dr. Anjali Malpani www.drmalpani.com
Credits: How to Have a Baby: Overcoming Infertility
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