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Pictures of abnormal and normal day 3, 8-cell human embryos from IVF

This is an 8-cell embryo (day 3) that has an unusual shape
It should be spherical instead of looking like a football
The shell (zona pellucida) is also slightly thicker than normal
The significance of this is unknown -
it might be caused by "pulling" during the egg retrieval process

This is a normally shaped, high-grade 8-cell embryo
Numerous sperm are visible attached to the outer shell

This embryo is also a day 3 embryo
It is severely fragmented and very low quality
More about embryo quality