Fertilization Process

Terms used:
• Ovum – from ovulation to fertilization
• Zygote – from fertilization to implantation
• Embryo – from implantation to 5 weeks
• Fetus – from 5 – 8 weeks until term
• Conceptus – developing embryo and placental structures throughout
pregnancy
• Age of Viability – the earliest age at which fetuses survive if they are
born is generally accepted as 24 weeks, or at the point a fetus weighs
more than 500 – 600 gm.
Terms used:
• Fertilization –
conception /
impregnation – is the
union of an ovum and
a spermatozoon
 • The ovum is the female sex cell.
• It is regularly released by the ovary
through the process of ovulation.
• It has two layers of protective covering,
the outer layer is the corona radiata and
the inner layer is the zona pellucida.
• The egg cell has a lifespan of 24 hours,
thus, it can only be fertilized within this
period. After 24 hours, it regresses and is
resorbed.
• Nucleus contains the female’s genetic
material.
• Oogenesis - process in which the primary
egg cell (or ovum) becomes a mature
ovum.

Ovum
Sperm Cell
• 3 parts: a head - contain the
chromatin materials; a neck or mid-
piece - provides energy for
movement, and a tail - responsible
for it’s mobility.
• Lifespan of 48 to 72 hours or 3 to 4
days after ejaculation.
• The sperm must be in the genital tract
4-6 hours before they are able to
fertilize an ovum to give time for the
enzyme hyaluronidase to be
activated.
 • Gynosperm – This is the X
carrying sperm cell. It has a
large oval head, are lesser in
number than androsperms
and thrive better in acidic
environment.
• Androsperm – the sperm
cell which carries the Y
chromosome, with a small
head, and thrive better in
alkaline environment.

Two kinds of sperm cell:

 • Per ejaculation the average 2.5ml of
seminal fluid contains 50 to 200 million
spermatozoa per ml or 400 million per
ejaculation.
• Fertilization occurs in the outer third
(ampullar portion) of a fallopian tube.
• Hyaluronidase released by the
spermatozoa dissolves the layer of cells
protecting the ovum, facilitating the
penetration of the spermatozoon.
• Upon fertilization, the resulting
structure is called zygote.

Fertilization
•Segmentation:
• Within a few hours after fertilization, after the
nucleus of the sperm has united with the nucleus
of the egg, the result of their union, the zygote,
begins a process of internal division.
• First, it divides into two cells, then four, eight,
sixteen, and so on, doubling the number with each
new division. This process of cell division or
cleavage in the zygote is called segmentation.
• It transforms the zygote into a cluster of cells called
morula which, seen through a microscope,
resembles a mulberry. The morula slowly moves
down the Fallopian tubes toward the uterus,
where it arrives after about three days. By this
time, it has developed into a hollow ball of cells
called blastocyst.
• The cells around the blastocyst are called
trophoblast cells.
• The inner cell mass – embryoblast cells is the
portion of the structure that will form the embryo.
Implantation
• The contact between the growing structure and
the uterine endometrium, occurs approximately
8 to 10 days after fertilization.
• Implantation occurs high in the uterus on the
posterior surface.
• On implantation, the structure is called embryo
until 5-8 weeks when it begin to be referred to
as fetus.
• Implantation bleeding (mistaken as menstrual
period) results from capillary rupture on
implantation.
• Endometrium (the inner lining of the uterus) is
termed decidua on conception.
Sex Determination

• Sex is determined at fertilization

• Ovum – contributes X chromosome
• Sperm – carries an X or Y
chromosome
• When a sperm carrying the X
chromosome fertilizes the X –
bearing ovum, a female (XX) results.
• When a Y – bearing sperm fertilizes
the ovum, a male (XY) child is
produced.