Assisted Hatching

Assisted Hatching may be offered to couples who have had IVF/ ICSI cycles with good quality embryo’s but have not achieved a pregnancy. It may be considered that the zona (outer shell of the egg) may be quite thick which could prevent the embryo from hatching out of the zona. It is thought that by thinning or making a small hole in the zona of the egg it may help the embryo to progress in its development.

Assisted hatching is performed on Day 3 of the embryo’s development and ideally when the embryo is at 6-8 cell stage of development. The hatched embryo is then placed back into the uterus on the day hatching was performed.

8 Cell Embryo