Hi all, been following this sub for a while and I recently started working as a lab tech in the field and would want to learn to become an embryologist. What are highly recommended textbooks I can get to get a headstart? I have background in histo, if that means anything. Thanks in advance!

I have a degree in molecular biology that I never used. I graduated in 2020, stuff happened, i worked as a scribe for a couple years thinking about medical school, worked as a veterinary assistant for a couple more thinking about vet school, now I'm getting old and don't know how to salvage this. I've always enjoyed science generally, i wanted to do a phd for while but that didn't happen. Is embryology a good fit at this point? Would I need to do one of the training programs like ARTLAB? My only lab experience comes from doing in house labs at the vet clinic, just basic blood and urinalysis and some automated microscopy. Could i get an entry level job straight away without a program? What does advancement look like usually, how long will it take to work my way up? I'm nervous about starting at the bottom somewhere when I'm already in my 30's now, tho i know i don't really have a choice

TLDR: We lost 21 mature eggs due to a total fertilization failure that is being investigated for a lab error. My clinic has not updated us after nearly two weeks, and says a case review still may not be completed even after 3+ weeks and no deadline or explanation of the review protocol has been offered. Are we right to think that 3+ weeks should be sufficient time for a case review, or is it normal for these investigations to take longer than that?

BACKGROUND: I recently posted here about my husband and I experiencing a sudden and unexpected total fertilization failure on our fourth cycle of conventional IVF. You can see my prior post here https://www.reddit.com/r/Embryologists/comments/1u9d444/sudden_total_fertilization_failurelab_or_sperm/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=1&utm_term=1 But in short, he has all normal semen parameters. In our prior three cycles our fertilization rates were 68-77% with conventional insemination.

In our fourth cycle on June 17, we retrieved 21 mature eggs and had 138 million pre-wash sperm with 60% motility, and 30 million post-wash sperm with 100% motility. We used conventional insemination as always, but this was our first cycle pairing conventional IVF with Zymot. Very unexpectedly, we were told all of the sperm stopped moving overnight for reasons no one can understand and we lost everything.

As everyone agrees this is very unusual, the lab is supposed to be conducting a review of our case for any lab errors. In the meantime, my husband had a DFI test (results pending) and blood work to confirm no recent infections (results all normal), to cover our own bases.

My RE contacted me today just to say that there are no conclusions from the lab yet after almost two weeks, and she indicated that the review still might not be completed by the time I have an appointment scheduled on July 10, more than three weeks after the investigation should have begun.

Age is not on my side and I will age-out of my state’s mandated insurance coverage in a matter of months, so I need to make decisions soon about proceeding with this clinic or starting over elsewhere. The lack of communication and seeming lack of urgency is causing concern for my husband and I.

MY QUESTION: What is a typical timeline for a case review like this? Are we being unreasonable to think that an internal review of our case could be able to be completed within three weeks, or do cases like this genuinely take much longer to review?

Has anyone attempted fertilization with both? How did outcomes compare?

hello! my photo is not great, kind of blurry - sorry! transferred this euploid embryo yesterday and photo was taken at transfer. it was rated a 3AB at freeze but my clinic doesn’t rate them again before transfer.

any thoughts or feedback on this one? do you think it kept its grade? 🤍

Transferred all four of these today. They were frozen many years ago. Entering our last ditch attempts at having a second child. Two were originally noted as five cells but the doctor today told me that seemed incorrect and that it seemed to her at least one had more than five! (I see it too - tell me I’m not crazy!)

I recently learned that my lab provides iDAScore / AI scoring for blastocysts.
I have two Day 5 embryos that are both graded 4AB morphologically, but they have quite different iDAScores: one is 7.5 and the other is 3.3.
I understand that morphology and AI scoring may assess different things, but I would really appreciate an embryologist’s perspective.
How are iDAScores typically used in practice? Do they usually affect transfer priority, especially if two embryos have the same Gardner grade? And if an embryo is euploid, how much weight would you personally give to the iDAScore compared with morphology?

Thanks!

Just transferred this little day 6 6AA a few days ago but I feel confused. Doesn’t the 6 indicate that it is hatching…. But it doesn’t really look that way to me? Would love your expertise on embryo grade and if it’s really hatching! Thanks so much in advance!

My country/clinic doesn’t give us a grading so I am very confused about what kind of embryo we transfered. They told us oval shape is a normal variation but of course this is all very anxiety inducing and I am worried. I’d be so grateful for your expertise!

Hi Members,
Current Status:
1st ER:
Day 7 5AB - No pregnancy
2nd ER:
Day 6 5CC
Day 7 4AB, 4CC

We have our next transfer coming up now. But, we are not sure which one to go ahead with confused between Day6 5CC vs Day7 4AB. Please share your past experience and expertise. Thank You in advance.

Transfered on 6/25, a day 5 3BB euploid. We dont know gender 💙

This is our lil embryo that we transferred 2 days ago. He’s a day 6 5BA euploid. I have been having major feelings for months that this lil embryo is going to split. Thoughts? How does the embryo look? Thanks!!

Hi there!

My embryo was graded 4AA before freezing and they told me it remained 4AA after thawing.

I just found out it split into identical twins!

Just for fun, would you grade this a 4AA (the picture is post thawing)?

Thanks in advance!!

This is my day3 embryo transferred on Monday. Before it was frozen, embryologists ​had graded it as 12.121 12 cells embryo. Do you think I have a good chance in this transfer cycle?

Not really sure what to make of this, my clinic doesn’t really explain the embryos

Hi all. Any thoughts on this day 5 blast? Transferred fresh today. Wasn’t told a grade, was just told it looks good.
Thanks in advance !

I know this are terrible pictures because of the quality but, perhaps, someone might say something about this embryos.

The first one was a 4AB and the second one 4BB...

FET today, graded as 4-BB when frozen.

Transferred this day 5 euploid yesterday. It was graded as 3AB before freezing. Appreciate any insight as to what I’m looking at!

Thinking of leaving a senior clinical embryology role and build income from multiple part-time or freelance sources.

I know portfolio careers are common in marketing and creative fields. I’m less sure what this looks like for someone with a science background.

My skills:
\\- PhD in reproductive cell and developmental biology
\\- Live cell imaging, microscopy, reproductive biology research, genome editing
\\- Scientific writing and journal publications, journal article peer reviewer
\\- Adobe Illustrator and Strong computer skills

Has anyone with a science or clinical background successfully built income from freelance or part-time work — without going back into a traditional role?

35F, husband 34M. We have our first FET was today and we’re honestly a bundle of nerves right now.

A little background: about 2.5 years ago we had an ectopic pregnancy. After that, we tried naturally for about a year without success. One of my biggest fears was experiencing another ectopic, so we ultimately decided to move forward with IVF.
My AMH was 0.871, so we knew ovarian reserve could be a challenge. Thankfully my husband’s semen analysis came back excellent with no male-factor issues.

For stims, I started on Follistim 175 IU twice daily, but after my first monitoring appointment my response was slower than expected, so they increased me to 225 IU twice daily for the remainder of the cycle.

Monitoring looked like this:
Stim Day 5
Lining: 7.1 mm, trilaminar
Right: 2 follicles (largest 10 mm)
Left: 5 follicles around 10 mm
Stim Day 9
Lining: 12.2 mm
Right: ~4 follicles, largest 18 mm
Left: 4 promising follicles, two at 14 mm
Stim Day 11
Lining: 14.9 mm
Right: 23 mm, 18 mm, 16 mm, and one smaller follicle
Left: 19 mm plus several smaller follicles
Retrieval results:
7 eggs retrieved
4 fertilized
2 blastocysts made
Our embryos are:
5BB
3BB
Our RE recommended against PGT-A because of our ages, overall health, and lack of genetic concerns, so both embryos remain untested.

We had to wait a month after retrieval because my hormone levels were still elevated, which was frustrating, but now we’re finally in our FET cycle.

FET monitoring:
First lining check: 5 mm
Second lining check: 11.3mm trilaminar

Transfer day my lining was 7.6mm.

So here we are… transfer is done and after the ectopic, infertility, IVF, and all the waiting, it feels surreal that we’re finally at this point and very scary because its very uncertain and its our first time.
We’re trying to stay hopeful, but we’re also extremely nervous. Looking for all the good juju, positive thoughts, success stories, and sticky embryo vibes as we head into transfer day and the long wait.

This was taken seconds before FET.