Medical biologists are researching a fertility disorder that prevents developing offspring from forming the structures they need to maintain nourishment and continue development. Therefore, development ceases early during gestation. What is the final stage of development that these offspring could reach before development stops?

After fertilization, a zygote divides and develops into a blastocyst, which can implant and begin forming structures that support nourishment and further development. If those supporting structures cannot form, development would stop before the offspring reached the fetal stage. Thus, the blastocyst is the final stage listed that it could reach.

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