You Have a Choice!

Through the use of in vitro fertilization (IVF), millions of couples have been able to become pregnant, have several children and are now done building their family. Now these same couples find themselves with remaining frozen embryos in storage. Perhaps only one, perhaps more than 10 remain. Sound familiar?

Now they must determine the destiny of those remaining embryos - often a difficult decision.

Couples with remaining frozen embryos may choose to donate them to another couple. The recipient couple may also be experiencing the heartbreak of infertility and may not have found success through medical procedures. Donor families have complete empathy with these couples.

The recipient family may have biological children and are excited to add more children to their family through embryo adoption. They may have experienced successful domestic or international adoptions and are excited to experience pregnancy through embryo adoption. Embryo donation is a positive experience for the donors, adopters and embryos!

For the donating couple it is a life-affirming way to resolve a challenging dilemma. For the adopting family it can be a long awaited opportunity to experience pregnancy, childbirth and parenting.

When you first discussed IVF with your fertility clinic staff they likely had a discussion with you about your disposition choice for any potential remaining embryos. It's likely that you were so intent and hopeful about having your own baby that you don't remember that discussion! You may even signed some forms about it as part of your IVF consent package [filled with so very many pages!].

Here are the basic choices available to you for any remaining frozen embryos you may have:

• Keep them frozen.
• Thaw them and discard them.
• Donate them to science.
• Donate them to another couple.

The number of remaining embryos continues to increase. We have 500,000 frozen embryos in the United States alone. The idea of donating these remaining frozen embryos is relatively new and many people are unaware of the possibility to do so.

Now when family-building is completed, a couple can provide the ultimate gift: the donation of their frozen embryos to a couple who is unable to conceive.

How did it happen that I have all these embryos 'left over'?

When a family begins their IVF procedures their doctor will harvest and fertilize as many eggs as possible. This is true whether you use your own eggs or the eggs of a donor. If there are more than can be used for the 'fresh' embryo transfer cycle, the remainder will be cryogenically frozen for future pregnancy attempts. When your family building is completed and you have remaining embryos, you must determine what to do with them.

Your reaction regarding remaining embryos may range from shock to frustration to guilt to indifference. Your feelings may change throughout the process. A previous indifference to the discarding of remaining embryos may change to a sense of protection and concern for them after you have given birth to children from these same embryos.

Whole lot of love

Couples with remaining embryos are familiar with the physical and emotional struggles of infertility. Couples interested in adopting embryos have often gone through their own cycles of IVF unsuccessfully. In fact, many of the families who have had success with embryo adoption have previously experienced IVF.

The donors and the recipients have both experienced the same highs and lows of trying to conceive. Infertility is more common than many people know.

The donating parents can have the peace of mind of having personally selected a family to raise their genetic child(ren). They also have the opportunity to have future contact with the adopting family to whatever extent both families are comfortable.

On the other hand, some may prefer to donate anonymously (except for medical information).

Agencies, clinics and attorneys will offer some variety of the donation approaches mentioned above. It is important that you evaluate your options and choose a provider who will meet your donation expectations.