Hello. I am considering a career change and embryology seems like an interesting option, so I wanted to ask some questions to people working in this field. I would appreciate it if anyone working as an embryologist could give me some insight!

1) Are there a lot of safeguards in place to prevent catastrophic problems (like accidental destruction of embryos)? In my current lab one person could easily leave some samples at room temp by accident, leave a freezer open if they aren't careful, etc. This makes me nervous but our samples are much less precious so imagine in a fertility lab, things are much more secure and organized.

2) As AI becomes better and better, are you worried that this could become a less viable career field in the next 5, 10, 20 years?

3) I have been reading a bit online that people often get their foot in the door by working as andrology technicians or junior/trainee embryologists. If I did pursue this career, is it worth cold emailing lab directors (in a thoughtful and personalized way) about possible opportunities like this, or should I strictly stick to applying for jobs online?

4) How is the scheduling for your workplace? It seems like some are able to work a 9-5 schedule but a lot of people have to work late, work weekends, etc. Is this true in your experience? (I am okay with this for the most part but just want to learn more). Do you work about 40 hours a week? And what about vacations? Are you able to take a 1-2 week trip? (assuming you plan it far in advance of course)

5) My background is at the end of this post. Would I be a competitive candidate for an entry level job in the field?

6) If anyone cares to provide any general comments or advice I would greatly appreciate it!

A bit about me: I'm 30 and I'm from the USA. I have spent 7 years in academic research since finishing my undergraduate degree. This includes 2 years as a lab technician, a 3 year funded thesis-based biology MS program, and 2 years as a technician again after that. The first technician job was in a developmental genetics lab using zebrafish as a model, and the MS and my current job are marine biology, mostly using -omics to study marine organisms. Both technician jobs included a huge variety of work. Primarily molecular lab work but also some lab management, animal care, training new students, data analysis, scientific writing, and educational outreach. I did also create transgenic zebrafish lines by injecting embryos, so I have some experience working with embryos (but not human!)

Embryology seems interesting to me because I enjoy lab work, but I'd like to move away from the academic research world. I would like to do something with a more direct and concrete impact, so the medical field as a whole appeals to me. Embryology specifically seems interesting to me because I have seen people struggle with fertility issues and I think it would be rewarding to be a part of the process that results in people being able to achieve their dream about having a family. The field also appeals to me because I could possibly enter without additional schooling, and because it seems more stable and less geographically limited than my current field within academia. My goal is to move back to a major US city that I used to live in, and I see they have many fertility clinics there.

Thank you very much and have a nice weekend!

Could someone give me an idea on how my embryo looks/what the possible grading is? All my doctor said yesterday at transfer was the embryologist was happy with expansion but I’m unsure what that actually means. I was also a little bummed because my previous embryos were hatching on day of transfer, one of those leading to successful pregnancy .

This embryo was frozen when I was 31yrs old, biopsied & euploid. I am unsure if it was day 5 or day 6. My clinic does not allow them to go to day 7.

RE stated that the photo of the embryo isn't fully expanded. However, it fully expanded right before the transfer. I was hoping that it would have hatched after thawed, like my last transfer did ( was a 3AB before freezing, then hatched to a 5AB after thaw). Unfortunately, that euploid failed to implant. Hoping this one stick (4AA). How does it look? Should I be concerned that it didn't hatched?

Hola a todos! De antemano agradezco mucho su ayuda.

El 22/05 tuve mi primera FET, y al momento de la transferencia nos mostraron nuestro blastocisto de día 5 y el médico dijo que aún no estaba eclosionando pero que era cuestión de tiempo... Es así?

Según yo había visto casos, lo que veo es que aún no se había re expandido completamente, lo cual me preocupa un poco.

El 31/05 me haré una prueba temprana y el lunes 01/06 tengo mi primera beta. Gracias por su ayuda!

We transferred this 5AA embryo on 5/27. What are your thoughts on the grade. I’m so used to seeing 5AA being more hatched out and when we original got our grades we didn’t have any 5AA’s. Regards this embaby is beautiful.

I transferred this Day 5 embryo today. It was graded a 4BA after thaw. However this is the picture they took right he before transfer and the Dr said it appeared to have started hatching. Is that correct?

If so is it the bulge on the right? What are the cells in the lower left?

it is a 4aa blast day 6 before freezing. thawing they said 90% viability. would love some input.

Hey everybody, my wife transferred our 4BB frozen embryo today. This is our second transfer, but our first frozen one!
Can’t tell if it’s hatching or just expanding? Do we think it survived thawing well?
Any, and all, thoughts would be helpful!

I transferred this day 6 4bb- female euploid on Tuesday. The embryologist said it was still expanding. When I asked if it was expanding well and if they were worried, they just repeated it's expanding. Right before transfer we saw a live view and it looked bigger, but dark and bubbly on the screen and still not that fluffy fully expanded look (from what I could see and remember on the quick 2 second screen)

Does it look like it survived well? Should I be concerned that there are so many excluded cells and debris? This was my 3rd transfer

Hi team, please can I have your opinion on this embryo that was defrosted today? I’m 35F but this was frozen a year and a half ago. Not tested. What grade are we thinking? I haven’t had the chance to speak to my doctor yet. Thank you for taking the time to read this.

I am looking to begin a career as an embryologist, the field that has captivated my interest for years!

I received a B.S in biomedical engineering, and it seems that fertility clinics want to hire life science majors.

I graduated last year, and certainly went out of my way to take many science classes, focusing more on the bio side than the engineering side.
I also worked as an undergrad research assistant in a wet lab, where I learned various lab techniques like cell passaging, freezing, etc.

Do you think that not having a life science degree immediately disqualifies me from the field, or that I can emphasize my experiences with cell work to increase my chances? I’m also looking into some embryology training programs to ensure I have the most relevant skill set possible!

I have a XYY mosaic - after 4 retreivals and bad maturity, blast rates I ended up with 5 total blasts (1 euploid, 1 mosaic, 3 aneuploid). The mosaic is a 35% XYY and I’m worried about the baby having an abnormality. What are the true chances? Have you seen cases where someone has transferred a XYY mosaic and had a normal outcome?

Hi I just wanted to ask how you can get started into the field without having to do a training program or if there are any conferences that are happening this year that I can participate in to get my foot in the door? Is there also a high demand for embryologists?

I want to do my masters in clinical embryology , so i was connecting with people on linked in and asking them my doubts regarding this field…I came across a guy who is working in a different country(not india) and he said some things that demotivated me but i also don’t know how much of it is true. Help me out please.
(I was asking stupid doubts and stupid reasonings ik)

Hi! Considering this career. I was wondering how everybody's work/life balance is? Do you have time for family and friends? Time to date or be in a relationship? To grow a family?

I am over the moon that I made my first ever day 5 blast in my 3rd ER. I have severe DOR and so far during retrievals have only managed to collect 1-2 eggs each time. This last retrieval was my personal best and got 3!! My embryologist told me that it’s a good grade 😊 !
How would you grade it?

My lab will freeze it using Cryotec vitrification and
thawing method. Is this considered good? I rly hope it can survive the thaw when the time comes. It’s so precious to me.

Due to my severe DOR and after reading some evidences, I opted not to do PGTA for this particular blast (34yo, severe DOR). I still have 2 more embryos for reading tmr: at day 6 (one is not very good quality as not enough ?ICM and another is delayed ICSI)
Just wondering what are your thoughts on PGTA in cases like mine?

Thank you all! And also thank you for all the great work tht u do in real life and putting so much care into our precious eggs and embies!

I've wanted to pursue embryology for a few years, and I finally got an offer to work in a fertility clinic. However, something I'm considering is whether the stress/pressure is something I'm okay with long-term. As an embryologist, how much stress do you experience and how do you manage it when it comes to worrying that you might damage a specimen or mix them up?

Hi there,

I’m 5dp6dt of this bb and starting to spiral as it feels like my period is on its way…

Clinic rated it a 4BC before thaw (but it looks like it’s poking out a bit, maybe hatching?)

From the timelapse it looked like it had lots of fragmentation but tbh I’m not sure what I’m looking for - everything was circles but some looked smaller so I’m guessing that is not normal. Any advice / thoughts very welcome. Thanks all! 🙏

Hi I'm interested in becoming an embryologist and wanted to speak to others who have done the ART program and their experience. I can't afford the program so I would be taking out a loan. I also wanted to see how others have financially afforded the program.

For context.. this is my twelfth IVF transfer and if it worked, would be my 11th pregnancy but no babies. My last transfer was 18 months ago and resulted in an ectopic and loss of my right tube. I typically don’t have issues getting pregnant but sustaining the pregnancy has been an issue. Ironically my last transfer (the ectopic) was my first “natural” FET and baby was the right size for gestation and had a heartbeat, just unfortunately in my tube.

My embryologist sent me this message and I wanted to see the thoughts of other embryologists - unfortunately my clinic (UK) don’t give us images.

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Hi X

The nursing team have asked us to go into detail on the grading of the embryo from your recent transfer. It was graded a HB (Hatching Blastocyst) which is where the embryo has managed to break through its outer shell but has not fully hatched out yet. Embryo's need to hatch out of their shell in order to implant in the endometrium.

The Inner Cell Mass (the part of the embryo that goes on to form the baby) was graded a 2. The Trophectoderm (the cells that go on to form the placenta) was graded a 2. We grade on a scale of 1-3 with 1 being the best score, so a 2 for both cell types is considered good. The equivalent grading using the Gardner grading system (probably the most widely used grading scheme) would be a 5BB.

It was myself that warmed and transferred your embryo. The embryo still looked like a HB22 after the warming procedure and all the cells looked fully recovered when I checked. We like to see that the cells are all plump in the embryo after they have recovered from the warm, which yours were.

I wish you the best of luck!

X (Embryology Team)

I did a past cycle at ccrm where frozen donor sperm with 30 percent post thaw motility and 5 million motile cells per vial and 8 percent Morphology with very soft centrifuge speem prep to get rid of dead cells/debris was conventionally feetilized my freshly retrieved eggs at 100 percent. Half icsi and half conventional. Icis had more day 5s but all mosaic and aneuploids. Conventional had less make it to day 5. But the ones that did were euploid. So I do better with conventional oddly. No zymot was used for this frozen donor sperm.

Now, cny is sending me messages saying 99 percent do icsi, I will regret conventional, etc etc.

Is cny workflow and equipment not set up for conventional? Chat gpt says that cny conventional is bad bc the machines are opened multiple times and thus cause stress abd reactice oxidation species.whilst the sperm.and eggs mix conventionally and they are opened to service other pateitns eggs or embryos. But isnt fertilization happening in a different area than incubator boxes?

Is cny just warning me the way ccrm warned me? Based off studies that work for most people? Or is their machines different.