Polyspermy

Polyspermy refers to the fertilization of one egg with multiple sperm cells that result in the formation of an embryo with abnormal sets of chromosomes. This typically happens with conventional insemination where the egg and the sperm are placed in the same culture environment for fertilization.

Pregnancies that result from polyspermy often result in spontaneous miscarriages during the second or third trimesters of pregnancy and fetuses that survive until childbirth are likely to not survive beyond a few days.

Polyspermy can also complicate in vitro fertilization (IVF) by producing non-viable embryos.