The lab side of IVF, explained the way we'd explain it to family.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Why didn't it work? The honest reasons an IVF cycle can fail

The commonest reasons a cycle ends without a pregnancy — from egg numbers to embryo genetics to the lining — what can be learned from each, and what usually can't.

PGT-A (embryo genetic testing): what it can and can't tell you

How embryos are biopsied and tested for chromosome number, what 'euploid', 'aneuploid' and 'mosaic' mean, who benefits, and the limits everyone should know before paying for it.