One of the questions we hear a lot is “what happens after an embryo transfer?” To answer the question, once you have completed your embryo transfer, you will have approximately 1 1/2 weeks to wait before a pregnancy can be detected. The following charts outline an approximate timeline for what happens during a successful pregnancy after a 3 day transfer and a 5 days transfer.
3-Day Embryo Transfer
| Days Past Transfer (DPT) |
Embryo Development |
| One | The embryo continues to grow and develop, turning from a 6-8 cell embryo into a morula |
| Two | The cells of the morula continue to divide, developing into a blastocyst |
| Three | The blastocyst begins to hatch out of its shell |
| Four | The blastocyst continues to hatch out of its shell and begins to attach itself to the uterus |
| Five | The blastocyst attaches deeper into the uterine lining, beginning implantation |
| Six | Implantation continues |
| Seven | Implantation is complete, cells that will eventually become the placenta and fetus have begun to develop |
| Eight | Human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) starts to enter the blood stream |
| Nine | Fetal development continues and hCG continues to be secreted |
| Ten | Fetal development continues and hCG continues to be secreted |
| Eleven | Levels of hCG are now high enough to detect a pregnancy |
5-Day Embryo Transfer
| Days Past Transfer (DPT) |
Embryo Development |
| One | The blastocyst begins to hatch out of its shell |
| Two | The blastocyst continues to hatch out of its shell and begins to attach itself to the uterus |
| Three | The blastocyst attaches deeper into the uterine lining, beginning implantation |
| Four | Implantation continues |
| Five | Implantation is complete, cells that will eventually become the placenta and fetus have begun to develop |
| Six | Human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) starts to enter the blood stream |
| Seven | Fetal development continues and hCG continues to be secreted |
| Eight | Fetal development continues and hCG continues to be secreted |
| Nine | Levels of hCG are now high enough to detect a pregnancy |
