For patients and families
Wherever you are, start there.
Short, honest pages about what happens to your eggs, sperm and embryos — written by embryologists, with no jargon, no promises and no sales. Your clinic is always the right place for decisions about you; these pages help you ask better questions.
STEP 1
Before you start
AMH, reserve, choosing a lab, what to ask
STEP 2
Eggs & sperm
the numbers, the sample, why they fall
STEP 3
Egg collection & the lab days
day 0 to day 5, ICSI, what the lab does
STEP 4
Your embryos
grades, day 3 vs day 5, what they mean
STEP 5
Freezing & transfer
vitrification, FET, the two-week wait
STEP 6
If it doesn't work
honest reasons, what to ask next
STEP 7
Tests & add-ons
PGT-A and what it can't tell you
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Decode your embryo report
4AA. 3BB. 8-cell Grade 1. In plain words.
Enter the grade exactly as it appears on your report and read what the letters and numbers describe. It explains the words — it does not judge your chances.
4AA describes an expanded blastocyst — larger, with the outer shell thinning; with many tightly packed cells in the inner cell mass — the part that becomes the baby; and many cells forming a neat, cohesive outer layer (trophectoderm — the future placenta).
On day 5, expansion 3, 4 and 5 are all normal — a higher number means further along, not better. The letters describe appearance, which predicts chances only on average; they say nothing about whether the embryo is genetically normal.
This decodes the words on your report. It cannot tell you your chances or what to do — grading is a judgement, labs differ, and only your clinic has your whole picture. Full explainer
Embryologists: the full grading calculators live in Learn.
Step 1
Before you start
AMH, AFC and 'ovarian reserve': what the numbers predict — and what they don't
Anti-Müllerian hormone and antral follicle count predict how many eggs a stimulation may produce. They say much less about egg quality or your chance of a baby.
Ten questions worth asking about the lab before you start
Most patients never speak to the embryologist. These are the questions that tell you how a lab works — and that a good lab will be glad to answer.
Step 2
Eggs & sperm
The sperm sample: what the lab does with it and what the report means
Count, motility, morphology, DNA fragmentation — what the numbers mean, what 'sperm washing' is, and why one poor result rarely tells the whole story.
Why the numbers go down: follicles, eggs, mature eggs, embryos
You had 12 follicles, 9 eggs, 7 mature, 5 fertilised, 2 blastocysts. Here's why every IVF cycle looks like a funnel — and what's normal.
Step 3
Egg collection & the lab days
What actually happens in the IVF lab
A walk through the days your eggs, sperm and embryos spend with the embryologists — from egg collection to transfer or freezing — in plain language.
Egg collection day: what happens, from trigger to the first phone call
The trigger injection, the 36-hour clock, the procedure itself, what the lab does in the first hours, and what the numbers you're told that afternoon actually mean.
ICSI: what it is, when it's used, and what it can't fix
Intracytoplasmic sperm injection — one sperm placed inside one egg by hand — explained without the jargon, including why it's not always better than standard IVF.
Step 4
Your embryos
What your embryo grade means (and what it doesn't)
4AA, 3BB, Grade 1, 8-cell — how embryologists grade embryos on day 3 and day 5, what the letters and numbers mean, and why a lower grade is not a verdict.
Day 3 or day 5 transfer: what the choice is really about
Why many clinics wait until the blastocyst stage, why some don't, and why fewer embryos on day 5 usually isn't a loss.
Step 5
Freezing & transfer
How embryo freezing works — and how safe it is
Vitrification explained: how embryos are frozen in seconds, why survival rates are high, how long they can stay frozen, and what 'freeze-all' means.
A frozen embryo transfer cycle: what to expect, step by step
Natural or medicated? How the lining is prepared, when the embryo is warmed, what happens on transfer day, and what the two-week wait involves.
Step 6
If it doesn't work
Step 7
Tests & add-ons
Clinics: hand these to your patients.
Every page prints as a clean one-pager with a neutral “shared by your clinic” footer. Your patients hear it in your voice; we stay in the background.