The zona pellucida (ZP) is an elastic glycoprotein shell surrounding the human oocyte and embryo, playing a key mechanical and biological role during fertilization, early development, and hatching. Previous studies have reported a correlation between ZP mechanical properties, particularly its shear modulus, and implantation success in in vitro fertilization (IVF), motivating the present study [1]. This work aims to characterize the mechanical response of the human ZP across three developmental stages by integrating clinical image analysis with advanced computational modelling [2]. In the first stage, the mechanical behavior of the ZP during intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) is analyzed. The deformation induced by oocyte fixation using a holding micropipette under controlled suction pressure is used to model the ZP as a compressible isotropic hyperelastic material and to estimate its pre-fertilization shear modulus. For eight oocytes, the average value was C_10=0.336±0.065[kPa]. In the second stage, ZP mechanical properties during days 2–3 post-fertilization are quantified using the same framework. A consistent zona hardening effect is observed, with an average increase of approximately 34% in shear modulus, reaching C_10=0.445±0.096[kPa]. The corresponding mean zona pellucida hardening factor was 1.34±0.24. The third stage investigates embryo growth and ZP expansion using time-lapse EmbryoScope imaging. A previously unreported finding is identified: during expansion, the total ZP volume decreases despite an increase in inner diameter and shell thinning, indicating a non-isovolumetric process. Comparative modeling shows that only an anisotropic bi-layer formulation accurately reproduces the clinically observed expansion, with strains concentrated primarily in the inner ZP layer. Combining computational results with clinical observations suggests that embryo hatching is governed by critical strain levels rather than stress thresholds. Overall, this study provides a quantitative characterization of human zona pellucida mechanics across early developmental stages and highlights mechanical properties as non-invasive biomarkers with translational potential for embryo assessment in IVF.