What Are Chromosomes, and Why Are They So Important? The most common cause of miscarriage is when an embryo has an irregularity with its chromosomes – having too many chromosomes, too few, or the wrong copies. Chromosomes are DNA – they’re the codes that tell our cells how to function. Normally, we get one set of 23 chromosomes from each parent, and they come together for a total of 46. |
When an embryo is chromosomally abnormal, most of the time, the body recognizes that it's not a healthy embryo, and a pregnancy does not proceed – the embryo either fails to implant in the uterine lining, or a miscarriage occurs. So, in a sense, it means the body is acting as it should by not allowing an unhealthy pregnancy to go to term.
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