Midweek blues!!
no cases today apart from a day 5 transfer or what we embryologists call a Blastocyst transfer
The blastocyst consists of two primary cell types:

• the inner cell mass which is th source of embryonic stem cells.
• the trophoblast a layer of cells surrounding the inner cell mass and the blastocyst cavity known as the blastocele which later combines with the maternal endometrium to form the placenta.

The blastocyst develops from the Morula, a solid ball of about 16 undifferentiated, spherical cell. As cell division continues, the blastomeres change their shape and tightly align themselves against each other, forming the fluid-filled cavity called the blastocoele.
The cells now forming differentiate into two types, an inner-cell mass growing on the interior of the blastocele and cells growing on the exterior of it. In 24 to 48 hours, the zona pellucida breaches, referred to as hatching.
The cells on the exterior of the blastocyst begin excreting an enzyme which erodes epithelial uterine lining and creates a site for implantation. The cells surrounding the blastocyst now destroy cells in the uterine lining, forming small pools of blood, which in turn stimulate the production of capillaries. This is the first stage in the growth of the placenta. The inner cell mass of the blastocyst divides rapidly, forming two layers. The top layer becomes the embryo, and cells from there occupy the amniotic cavity. At the same time, the bottom layer forms a small sac.
below is a pic of the blastocyst that was transferred today morning.for comparison i have placed a 6 -8(day 5)celled embryo besides the Blastocyst.the embryo stopped growing at 6-8 cells and did not progress further the main reason being it might have been of inferior quality.

usually at our clinic we do a day 3 transfer for 70% of our surrogacy cases,a day 2 trasnfer in 20% of the cases and a day 5/6 transfer in 10% of the cases.
if it is a day 5/6 transfer then we do not transfer more than 2 Blastocyst.
most infertile couples who come in for ivf or surrogacy are happy having twins but some folks request only a single pregnancy and in these cases we transfer only 1 Blastocyst.

Advantages and disadvantages of a Blastocysts transfer
Blastocyst transfer can be highly successful for some groups of women, but it isn’t right for everyone and does have some drawbacks:
blastocyst transfer can result in a higher likelihood of becoming pregnant when compared with cleavage stage embryo in certain groups of women(higher age group using self eggs) on the contrary if you opt for blastocyst transfer, you may not get any embryos that develop to the blastocyst stage.

• there may also be fewer embryos to freeze.
• now a lot of folks advocate a Blastocyst transfer to prevent multiple pregnacies but Even if you have only one blastocyst transferred there is still a small risk of twin pregnancy. This is because at the very early stages of development blastocysts can split to give monozygotic or identical twins. 

so transfer done,pregnancy test will be done on the Gestational carrier in ten days.
good luck to the Couple from Australia!!

today is the 99th Birth Anniversary of My childhhod Hero!!since childhood i have always been fascinated by a carrier in the Armed forces,i always wanted to be an airline pilot but could not make it because i have Myopia/short sightedness and one personality the stories of whom i grew up on was Sam Hormusji Framji Jamshedji Manekshaw  (3 April 1914 – 27 June 2008), also known as Sam Bahadu ("Sam the Brave"), was an Indian military leader who was the first Indian Army officer to be promoted to the rank of Field Marshal. His distinguished military career spanned four decades and five wars, beginning with service in the British Indian Army in World War II. Manekshaw rose to be the 8th chief of staff of the Indian Army in 1969 and under his command, Indian forces conducted victorious campaigns against Pakistan in 1971 and the liberation of Bangladesh in December 1971.
Towards the end of April 1971, Indira Gandhi, Prime Minister of India at that time, asked Gen. Manekshaw if he was ready to go to war with Pakistan. Manekshaw refused saying his armoured division and two infantry divisions were deployed elsewhere, of whose 189 tanks, only 11 were fit to fight, and that they would be vying for rail carriage with grain harvest at that point of time. Besides, the Himalayan passes would soon open up, with the forthcoming monsoon in East Pakistan turning rivers into oceans. When she asked the cabinet to leave the room and the chief to stay, he offered to resign. She declined to accept it, but sought his advice. He then said he could guarantee victory if she would allow him to prepare for the conflict on his terms, and set a date for it. These were acceded to by the Prime Minister.
Manekshaw masterminded the rout of the Pakistan Army in one of the easiest and quickest surrenders in recent military history. The war, lasting under a fortnight, saw more than 45,000 Pakistani soldiers and 45,000 civilian personnel being taken as POWs(prisioners of war). It ended with Pakistan's unconditional surrender of its eastern half, resulting in the birth of Bangladesh, as a new nation.
  indira gandhi was the indian PM at that time and was somewhat of a paranoid personality,she got whiff of a rumour that Sam Was planning a military coup,when confronted Sam had this to say

·         "Don't you think I would be a worthy replacement for you, Madam Prime Minister? You have a long nose. So have I. But I don't poke my nose into other people's affairs."

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