Bisection of bovine morulae and blastocysts from superovulated Danish dairy cows

Sixtyfour compacted morulae and blastocysts were bisected with a microscalpel. The majority of the demi-embryos (n = 122) were reinserted into separate zona pellucidae (ZP) before non-surgical transfer to 113 synchronized recipients, as singles (n = 98) (DE-S) or in pairs (n = 30) (DE-P). Thirty non-manipulated embryos (E) were transferred during the same period and served as controls. Pregnancies were diagnosed by rectal palpation 4-7 weeks after transfer. The pregnancy rates for DE-S, DE-P and E were 32%, 53% and 40%, respectively (P greater than 0.05). A substantial number of abortions were recorded between 50 and 250 days of pregnancy among the recipients with DE-S. The fetal survival rate for DE-S was reduced to 21% and significantly lower (p less than 0.05) than the survival rates of DE-P (43%) and E (40%). The quality of DE and the presence of ZP did not significantly influence the results. No conclusive reasons for the fetal loss could be found but different possibilities are discussed.