BLASTOCYST CULTURE AND TRANSFER​

Thomson Fertility Centre also offers patients a procedure called Blastocyst Culture and Transfer.

What is a blastocyst?

In the natural cycle, the egg is fertilised in the fallopian tube (or oviduct) and undergoes several cell divisions before reaching the blastocyst stage (see right side of picture) on day 5 which contains hundreds of cells. The blastocyst consists of two cell populations – the inner cell mass which is the precursor of the foetus and trophectoderm which helps the embryo to implant and form the placenta. The blastocyst enters the womb (uterus) five or six days after fertilisation during which the endometrium is receptive to implantation. Therefore, the transfer of a blastocyst is believed to be more physiologically synchronised with the window of implantation.