Embryo adoption is another form of growing your family. Embryo adoption is when a family adopts a child/children as an embryo, and then the embryo is implanted in the woman. A donating family who would have undergone fertility treatment would have completed their family with the embryos that were created, and they would then donate any remaining embryos. A receiving family would then adopt the embryos.
A family might have medical reasons why they cannot use their own sperm and/or egg, and they might not want to consider just an egg donor or a sperm donor, and instead opt to adopt embryos. Embryos are ready fertilized, and would be kept frozen until they are ready to be used, in which case they are then thawed to be implanted in a woman. Sometimes fresh embryos are used, where in one IVF cycle, the eggs and sperm are retrieved, and then implanted in the woman in the same cycle. However, in the case of embryo adoption, the embryos would be frozen from a previous cycle.
When does human life begin?
Medically, the beginning of life is when the egg cell is fertilized – this would also apply to egg cells fertilized outside the woman’s body and in a lab. Therefore, an embryo is the fertilized egg cell capable of development in live children from the time of fertilization. With this argument, an embryo is then an unborn child with the potential of development inside a woman’s womb, and be born. A family would then be adopting an embryo – a potential unborn child.
How to adopt embryos?
There is still a ‘legal’ process to adopt embryos. Usually it is done through an agency that specializes in embryo adoption. Each agency has its own protocols, but in general it would involve a process similar to a live child adoption, including a home study, medical checks, child welfare checks, etc. Once a family adopts embryo/s, the embryos are considered legally the ‘property’ (the children) of the adopting family.
Where would the adopted embryos be stored?
To start with the embryos are usually stored in the fertility clinic where the placing family would have undergone fertility treatment. Once a family adopts an embryo or a set of embryos, there are two options for the storage of these embryo/s. Either they remain in the fertility clinic, and the woman would then liaise with the fertility clinic for the treatment protocol and travel to the clinic for implantation of the embryo/s. Another option is for the embryo/s to be transported to a fertility clinic of the adopting family’s choice. Sometimes the adopting family might not have a choice where the embryos are to be stored, as the agency and/or the fertility clinic would prefer to minimize any risks to the embryos and keep the embryos stored in the originating fertility clinic.
Next steps
If you are considering adopting embryo/s, I encourage you to read through myHoPE&CO’s blog for more information.