Embryo donation

Embryo donation is a form of third party reproduction. In vitro fertilisation, or IVF, often results in a number of frozen, unused embryos after the woman for whom they were originally created has successfully carried one or more pregnancies to term. In embryo donation, these extra embryos are given to other couples or women for transfer with the goal of producing a successful pregnancy. The resulting child is considered the child of the woman who carries it and gives birth, and not the child of the donor, the same as occurs with egg donation or sperm donation.

Typically, genetic parents donate the eggs to a fertility clinic or embryo bank where they are cryogenically preserved until a carrier is found for them. Typically the process of matching the embryo(s) with the prospective parents is conducted by the agency itself, at which time the clinic transfers ownership of the embryos to the prospective parents.

Women seeking to be an embryo recipient undergo FDA required infectious disease screening, as well as reproductive tests to determine the best placement location and cycle timing before the actual Embryo Transfer occurs. The amount of screening the embryo has already undergone is largely dependent on the Genetic Parents' own IVF clinic and process. The embryo recipient may elect to have her own embryologist conduct further testing.

Alternatives to donating unused embryos are discarding them, keeping them frozen indefinitely, or donating them for use in embryonic stem cell research.

History and legal

The first transfer of an embryo from one human to another resulting in pregnancy was reported in July 1983 and subsequently led to the announcement of the first human birth February 3, 1984. This procedure was performed at the Harbor UCLA Medical Center under the direction of Dr.John Buster and the University of California at Los Angeles School of Medicine.

In the procedure, an embryo that was just beginning to develop was transferred from one woman in whom it had been conceived by artificial insemination to another woman who gave birth to the infant 38 weeks later. The sperm used in the artificial insemination came from the husband of the woman who bore the baby.

This scientific breakthrough established standards and became an agent of change for women suffering from the afflictions of infertility and for women who did not want to pass on genetic disorders to their children. Donor embryo transfer has given women a mechanism to become pregnant and give birth to a child that will contain their husband’s genetic makeup. Although donor embryo transfer as practiced today has evolved from the original non-surgical method, it now accounts for approximately 5% of in vitro fertilization recorded births.

Prior to this, thousands of women who were infertile, had adoption as the only path to parenthood. This set the stage to allow open and candid discussion of embryo donation and transfer. This breakthrough has given way to the donation of human embryos as a common practice similar to other donations such as blood and major organ donations. At the time of this announcement the event was captured by major news carriers and fueled healthy debate and discussion on this practice which impacted the future of reproductive medicine by creating a platform for further advancements in woman's health.

This work established the technical foundation and legal-ethical framework surrounding the clinical use of human oocyte and embryo donation, a mainstream clinical practice, which has evolved over the past 25 years. Building upon this groundbreaking research and since the initial birth announcement in 1984, well over 47,000 live births resulting from donor embryo transfer have been and continue to be recorded by the Centers for Disease Control(CDC) in the United States to infertile women, who otherwise would not have had children by any other existing method.

Embryo adoption

Embryo donation is legally considered a property transfer and not an adoption. The term "Embryo Adoption" refers to the procedural elements of the embryo transfer entered into willingly by both the genetic and "adoptive" parents and not the legal classification. Legally, embryo adoption is the same as embryo donation.

Genetic parents entering an embryo adoption program are offered the benefits of selecting the adoptive parents from the agency's pool of prescreened applicants. Embryo ownership is transferred directly from the genetic parents to the adoptive parents. Genetic parents may be updated by the agency when a successful pregnancy is achieved and when a child(ren) is/are born. The genetic parents and adoptive parents may negotiate their own terms for future contact between the families.

Prospective adoptive parents entering a program complete an application, traditional adoption homestudy, adoption education, health checks and in some cases, depending on the requirements of both the homestudy and placement agencies, court certification of adoption eligibility. Their completed paperwork and fees are submitted to the placement agency, which reviews their file and matches them to genetic parents with similar preferences including desired level of openness post-adoption. Genetic and prospective parents are then given the chance to approve the match. Once all parties agree, the embryo is transferred to the adoptive mother's clinic for a frozen embryo transfer.

None of the procedures involved with embryo adoption by either the genetic or adopting parents are legal requirements of embryo transfer. The process is entered in to willingly by both sets of parents because of the added safeguards, knowledge and communication offered to both parties by the system.

The matter gained another political dimension in the United States when Congress and the Bush administration gave $1 million to promote embryo adoption.

Embryo adoption was originally established by Nightlight Christian Adoptions. Its program, Snowflakes Embryo Adoption Program, refers to the uniqueness of each embryo. Because Nightlight was the only provider of this option for many years, the term has become common vernacular when referring to the embryo-adoption process, though no longer referring exclusively to Nightlight's Snowflake Embryo Adoption Program.

A few agencies nationwide offer Embryo Adoption, including Nightlight Christian Adoptions, Embryos Alive, Bethany Christian Services, and the National Embryo Adoption Center.

As of 2008, Nightlight has reported 194 children born through the embryo adoption program.

Stem Cell Research

Over the past few years a major political and scientific topic that has been discussed publically is Stem Cell Research. Stem Cell Research gives us hope to finding cures for many major dieses such as Alzheimer, Cancer, and Parkinson’s dieses. Stem Cell Research is done by using Human Embryos, and one option that parents have once they are done with In Vitro Fertilization is to donate their unneeded Embryos to Stem Cell Research. Many studies have been done and most parents who have used infertility treatments would prefer donating their embryos to stem call research rather then just letting them go to waste. Other couples have stated that they just need more information on what stem cell research is and how it works. A study was done in Sweden and it concluded that 92% of parents who underwent fertility treatments would want to donate their embryos to stem cell research.

See also

• Assisted reproductive technology
• Snowflake children

External links

• PrenatalAdoption.Com A non-profit Embryo Donation Embryo Adoption Agency
• Miracles Waiting, Inc., a non-profit organization offering information about embryo donation and providing a venue for potential donors and recipients to contact each other.
• Embryo Adoption Awareness Center

Articles

• A Life-Affirming choice for frozen human embryos from New Jersey Right to Life
• Defrosting Embryo Adoption: An Examination of Current Practices of Embryo Adoption
• Embryo Donation: Unresolved Legal Issues in the Transfer of Surplus Cryopreserved Embryos
• Embryo Donation: The Government Adopts a Cause
• Babies or Blastocysts, Parents or Progenitors? Embryo Donation and the Concept of Adoption
• The First Live Birth