The Defective Embryo That Could Be Your Baby – Fertility Plus
Fertility Plus shared a post on LinkedIn:
“The ‘Defective’ Embryo That Could Be Your Baby’
(or: ‘IVF Labs Have Been Throwing Away Viable Embryos — New Research Changes Everything’)
When an egg is fertilised, one of the first things scientists look for is the number of ‘pronuclei’ — tiny circular structures that appear inside the embryo in the first 24 hours. Two pronuclei (called 2PN) is textbook perfect. One pronucleus (1PN) has traditionally been flagged as abnormal, and for decades most labs have simply discarded these embryos without a second thought.
But a landmark new study — analysing nearly 300,000 embryos — has found that some 1PN embryos are chromosomally normal, can develop into healthy blastocysts, and can result in live births. The old ‘discard by default’ rule appears to have been throwing away real chances of a baby for patients who had nothing else left.
The key insight: with modern genetic testing (specifically SNP-based PGT-A, which is more detailed than standard genetic screening), clinicians can now look inside a 1PN embryo, rule out rare risks like molar , and identify those that are genuinely viable. It’s not about lowering standards — it’s about using better tools to make smarter decisions.
The headline finding from 291,000 embryos: the number of pronuclei is a guide, not a verdict.
T. Lee, F. Qi, K. Peirce, J. Natalwala, V. Chapple, P.J. Mark, K. Sanders, and Y. Liu
- Title: To discard or not to discard 1PNs? A systematic review and meta-analysis on 291,474 embryos
- Journal: Reproductive BioMedicine Online (RBMO)
- Publication Date/Volume: Volume 52, Issue 2, 2026″
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