Laparoscopic embryo transfer in rabbits.

A technique for endoscopic transfer of one-cell, one-two-cell, two-cell or morula stage embryos to the Fallopian tubes of rabbits was developed in two phases. Phase I of the experiments involved the transfer of 30-65 embryos to each of nine recipients and resulted in pregnancies in all animals. After 12 days six rabbits were killed and they showed an implantation rate of 27%. The remaining three rabbits continued pregnancy until birth. The embryo survival rate was 26%. In a second phase, 10-20 embryos were transferred to each of the 22 recipient animals, 19 of which went on to give birth (embryo survival rate in the animals that became pregnant was 47%).