Whether you’ve never been through IVF or whether you have completed multiple cycles, embryo grading is a topic that you may not have heard of before.
With Dr. Jill Matthews, the embryology supervisor at Fertility Centers of Illinois, you will take a virtual trip to the back of our laboratory and learn how your embryos are assessed and carefully chosen prior to a uterine transfer during an IVF cycle.
This podcast explains what happens after ICSI and how certain scientific assessments can provide insight as to determining the best next steps in treatment.
Embryo grading questions
- In general, what is embryo grading?
- How effective is embryo grading?
- Talk to me about what happens after egg retrieval and the differences between Day 3, Day 5, and Day 6 embryos.
- It is my understanding that numeric grading systems for multi-cell embryos usually have 4 levels. Can you please explain each one?
- Blastocysts are typically graded with a number and a letter. What is a blastocyst, and can you explain what the different grades mean?
- How do embryologists make their final decision about an embryo’s grade?
- Is there a grade at which you would not recommend transferring an embryo because it’s too low?
- How do you determine your recommendation of what day to transfer embryos, as well as how many to transfer?
- How are embryos frozen and thawed? Does this process damage the embryos at all?
- How much does an embryo’s grade really impact the success of IVF?
- Is there anything else you’d like to add?
Do you have a question you want to ask the Beat Infertility podcast?
Submit a question to the show for Dr. Allison Rodgers to answer on air. Beat Infertility also has podcasts to address all of your questions on infertility as well as a private Facebook Group to connect with others.
