How many chromosomes are there in a fertilized egg?

An egg contains 23 chromosomes. The zygote or the fertilized egg has 46 chromosomes.

• The egg completes meiosis before it meets up with the sperm, which also has 23 chromosomes.

• This count is why it ends up with half the number of chromosomes into a polar body that connects the zona pellucid lining.

• While there are 23 pairs, 22 of the pairs are identical. The 23rd pair determines whether it will be a boy or girl.

• If it has an x and a y, it indicates that it is a male, while if they are both x’s, then it’s a female.

• Each parent contributes the haploid number of the chromosome complement to the fertilized egg.

• No single parent contributes a pair of any chromosomes.

• 23 come from the sperm, while the other 23 come from the egg.

A fertilized egg (also known as a zygote), contains 23 pairs of chromosomes for a total of 46 chromosomes in the zygote. These chromosomes come from the mother via the unfertilized egg, and from the father via the sperm cell. Each of these carries 23 individual chromosomes, which are matched and paired with the 23 chromosomes from the other partner.

These paired chromosomes determine what the child’s physical characteristics will be when they are born, including hair color, eye color, skin tone, facial structure, and gender. The 46 chromosomes contained in a fertilized egg form the basic genetic makeup for the growing fetus. If there are any mutations or abnormalities in any of these chromosomes, or if there are extra or missing chromosomes, this will usually result in a birth defect.