Assisted Embryo Hatching

Each egg or oocyte is surrounded by a zona pellucida. You can think of the zona as an egg shell. The initial development of the embryo occurs within this egg shell and at a certain time (day 5 or 6) the embryo breaks free from this shell or “hatches” in order to start the implantation process with the uterine wall. Some reasons for unsuccessful IVF cycles may be due to the inability of the embryo to “hatch” and therefore not implant. Assisted embryo hatching is a process where by a portion of the zona pellucida is thinned to facilitate the embryo’s release from this shell and thereby increase the chance of implantation. This procedure is done with a laser under a microscope. Some indications for Assisted Embryo Hatching include:

• Previous IVF cycles with failed implantation
• Women of advanced reproductive age
• IVF cycles involving pre-implantation genetic diagnosis