Realised that may be deleted - it’s not an advert it was just a good explanation. In case it’s deleted the wording on the page explains how it’s normal for the egg and sperm to meet in the tube, and then implant in the womb. In ectopic they implant in the wrong place
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Every month, the female ovulates one mature egg from one of her ovaries. This egg leaves the ovarian follicle and is ‘captured’ in the end of the Fallopian tube. Here, it will begin to move slowly down the tube towards the womb (uterus). However, for a pregnancy to develop it must first meet sperm from the male whilst it is still held in the Fallopian tube.
The sperm then begin their long journey towards the egg. Leaving the cervix they enter the womb. Here, they swim towards the Fallopian tubes. The vagina and the womb are quite hostile environments for sperm, however, once the sperm reach the Fallopian tubes they are mainly free from the potential negative effects of the woman’s immune system. Only 1 in 14 million of the ejaculated sperm will reach the Fallopian tube, but once there the sperm should pick up chemical signals from the egg to help them find their way forward.
The sperm finally near the egg and push towards its shell (called the zona pellucida). Many sperm will bind to this shell, but only 1 sperm will be allowed to go all the way through to reach the egg inside.
Sperm can survive for a few days in the female reproductive system – hence a sperm ejaculated during intercourse on a Monday could fertilise an egg ovulated on the Tuesday or Wednesday!
How we can help you?
Fertilisation
Once the sperm has gained entry to the egg a complex chain of events occurs over a period of about 16 hours culminating in the sperm’s genetic material forming a structure called the ‘male pronucleus’ and the egg’s genetic material forming a ‘female pronucleus’. The male and female pronuclei move together to the centre of the egg and during IVF this can be seen down the microscope. The egg can now be called a fertilised embryo and would normally be at this stage 1 day after ovulation.
What is IVF?
Embryo development
The following day after fertilisation the embryo’s genetic material should double then halve forming 2 identical cells all still within the shell. This doubling of genetic material and halving continues over the next 2 days until the embryo is around 8 cells.
At 8 cells the embryo continues to keep dividing to make more cells, but now the cells become very tightly bound and start to communicate with each other.
Around day 4 to 6 after fertilisation the blastocyst stage of the embryo begins. Fluid starts to fill inside the embryo making a small cavity. The outer cells begin to form a wall and the inner cells form a ball - this will become the future baby.
All this time the embryo has been rolling down the Fallopian tube, but at the blastocyst stage the embryo enters the womb. (But in ectopic stays in the tube, or implants whereever it is)
Over the next few days it will hatch out of its shell and begin to bury into the wall of the womb. It will grow and eventually form blood vessel connections with the mother. This stage of connecting with the womb wall is called ‘implantation’ and is another critical stage in achieving a pregnancy.
At this point the embryo is sending out chemicals into the mother’s blood stream, and from about 2 weeks from fertilisation the chemicals have reached a level which will be picked up by a pregnancy test.
The embryo must then continue to grow and develop the different types of cells and structures necessary to become a baby. The process of conception has occurred and the woman can now say she is ‘pregnant’.
Possible reasons for degraded gloop include infection, low progesterone and injury to area.