The mouse sperm genome is 80–90% methylated at its CpG sites in DNA, amounting to about 20 million methylated sites. After fertilization, the paternal chromosome is almost completely demethylated in six hours by an active process, before DNA replication (blue line in Figure).  
Demethylation of the maternal genome occurs by a different process. In the mature oocyte, about 40% of its CpG sites in DNA are methylated. While somatic cells of mammals have three main DNA methyltransferases (which add methyl groups to cytosines at CpG sites), DNMT1, DNMT3A, and DNMT3B, in the pre-implantation embryo up to the blastocyst stage (see Figure), the only methyltransferase present is an isoform of DNMT1 designated DNMT1o. DNMT1o has an alternative oocyte-specific promoter and first exon (exon 1o) located 5' of the somatic and spermatocyte promoters. As reviewed by Howell et al., DNMT1o is sequestered in the cytoplasm of mature oocytes and in 2-cell and 4-cell embryos, but at the 8-cell stage is only present in the nucleus. At the 16 cell stage (the morula) DNMT1o is again found only in the cytoplasm. It appears that demethylation of the maternal chromosomes largely takes place by blockage of the methylating enzyme DNMT1o from entering the nucleus except briefly at the 8 cell stage. The maternal-origin DNA thus undergoes passive demethylation by dilution of the methylated maternal DNA during replication (red line in Figure). The morula (at the 16 cell stage), has only a small amount of DNA methylation (black line in Figure).  
DNMT3b begins to be expressed in the blastocyst. Methylation begins to increase at 3.5 days after fertilization in the blastocyst, and a large wave of methylation then occurs on days 4.5 to 5.5 in the epiblast, going from 12% to 62% methylation, and reaching maximum level after implantation in the uterus. By day seven after fertilization, the newly formed primordial germ cells (PGC) in the implanted embryo segregate from the remaining somatic cells. At this point the PGCs have about the same level of methylation as the somatic cells.