Heat stress has a significant negative impact on agriculture production. A significant portion of this loss is recognized through lost reproductive ability in swine herds during periods of elevated environmental temperatures. The objective of this project was to develop an in vitro model of heat stress during oocyte maturation and demonstrate the impact on subsequent development in thermal neutral conditions following in vitro fertilization. The completion of this research project has: 1) Established an in vitro model of heat stress during porcine oocyte maturation, 2) Demonstrated impaired developmental competency of porcine embryos produced through in vitro fertilization following heat stress to the maturing oocyte, and 3) characterized potential molecular markers associated with heat stress during oocyte maturation prior to fertilization. Utilization of the molecular markers of developmental competency following oocyte heat stress will be useful towards the development of strategies to mitigate the negative effects of heat stress during oocyte maturation in pigs.