Embryo Donation & Adoption | Frequent Questions: Donating Parents

General/Preliminary Information on Embryo Donation

What is embryo donation? Through the use of in vitro fertilization (IVF), thousands of couples have been able to have children. After they have completed their family building through IVF many of these couples find themselves with remaining embryos in frozen storage. Now they must determine the destiny of those remaining embryos - often a difficult decision.
Couples with remaining embryos may choose to donate them to another couple experiencing infertility. 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. For the embryos it is the chance to grow, be born and live in a loving family.
How do we determine where we should store remaining embryos? Many clinics will freeze and store your embryos at their facility for an annual fee. Most families choose this option because they have not completed their family building. However, some families have difficulty determining the future for their remaining embryos; donation, destruction, research or leave them frozen. As a result, the number of remaining embryos continues to increase. Each year when a couple receives their annual storage fee invoice, they have another opportunity to face this difficult decision. There are several corporations that have been established specifically to store frozen embryos. But please heed this word of caution: Some centers that offer to store your embryos might require that you relinquish all control once the embryos are in their facility. In addition, certain centers may sell your embryos for profit. When you are making a decision regarding your embryos, it is important to carefully and completely research all of the facility's policies in order to ensure all options for your embryos remain in your control.
What kind of factors influence whether a family is interested in donating their embryos? When a family begins their IVF procedures, they may be either unaware or unconcerned that a surplus of embryos will be created as "insurance" for additional attempts at pregnancy. When their family building using their embryos is completed and they have remaining embryos, they must determine what to do with them. The reactions can range from shock to frustration to guilt when they realize the magnitude of the situation facing them. These feelings can change their previous indifference at discarding the embryos to a sense of protection and concern for them instead.
Couples with remaining embryos are familiar with the physical and emotional struggles of infertility. Couples interest 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. Infertility is more common than many people know.
The American Society of Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) has estimated the following sterility rates among women by age group:
Age in Years = Risk of Childlessness (%)
20-24 = 5.7%
25-29 = 9.3%
30-34 = 15.5%
35-39 = 29.6%
40-44 = 63.6%

In the U.S. women are tending to postpone initial efforts of childbearing into their late 30s and early 40s. As seen in the chart above, success in childbearing, using her own eggs, decreases significantly in these older age brackets. This may contribute to unsuccessful IVF treatments.
Donated frozen embryos may be more likely to produce pregnancy in the adopting mother since children have already been born from the same set of created embryos.
When considering embryo donation families will find they do have a choice in how to donate their embryos. Some may prefer to donate completely anonymously (except for medical information). Some may wish to have input into the type of family who receives their embryos, but desire minimal contact with the family. Still others are committed to establishing various levels of regular communication with the adopting family.
Agencies, clinics and attorneys will offer some variety of the donation plans mentioned above. It is important that you evaluate your options and choose a provider who will fulfill your donation requirements.
How is embryo adoption different from embryo donation?
Embryo donation and embryo adoption programs specifically differentiate themselves by the label of either donation, which includes both anonymous and known donations, or adoption.

Anonymous Donation programs are generally managed by fertility clinics, which receive donated embryos to be given anonymously to whomever the clinic chooses. Known Donation programs give the donating family the option of choosing the receiving family and they can mutually determine the level of future interaction between families. Miracles Waiting, Inc. is an organization that uses profile listings on its website to allow donating and receiving families to find one another, establishing a context for known donations. Adoption programs regard embryo donation as equivalent to a traditional adoption proceeding and offer corresponding assistance and services.

However, the clients of both donation and adoption programs use the terms in a different and more generic way. Typically, placing or donating parents tend to use the term 'donation', while receiving or adopting couples tend to use the term 'adoption'. The basis for this is largely psychological.

Donation is used in the sense of 'giving a gift' and offers an emotional separation from the embryos that the phrase 'placing for adoption' does not. Yet for the family wanting to parent the children born from such a gift, the term 'adoption' makes more emotional sense. It is the term that both legally and socially explains the transfer of parental rights associated with traditional adoption. Adoption also helps to describe and explain to their child the way in which they became a family, since children are 'adopted' rather than 'donated'.

Frequently the terms are used interchangeably like the words lawyer and attorney.
Why would placing parents choose embryo adoption instead of donation?
- Embryo adoption provides the same safeguards that the traditional adoption process offers.
- The donating family knows that the family they have chosen to parent their child has been screened for a criminal history and child abuse record, as well as educated about how to parent an adopted child.
- The donating parents have the peace of mind of having personally selected a family to raise their genetic child. They also have the opportunity to have contact with the adopting family to whatever extent both families are comfortable. The children, genetic siblings, would also have the opportunity to connect later on if they desired.
What are the benefits of embryo donation through an agency? Embryo adoption agencies, unlike the typical donation program, offer families the same safeguards and education available in a traditional adoption. This includes a homestudy which is conducted for the adopting family and includes criminal screening and adoption education. They allow both the placing and adopting families to participate in the selection of each other. In an anonymous embryo donation, most often, a doctor in a clinic decides to whom embryos are given. An agency recognizes the importance of counseling for all parties involved, especially counseling to the adopting family on the best approaches to educating their child regarding his/her adoption.
An agency already has in place a set of legal documents that can be customized to fit each embryo adoption situation. These legal documents are well organized and contain all of the special considerations for embryo adoption. Embryo adoption is not recognized as an adoption by law, but as an exchange of property. In a standard adoption, the child must be born prior to being adopted.
The adoption agency will also help coordinate the transportation of embryos from the donating family's clinic to the adopting family's clinic in the safest possible way.
An adoption agency will provide the families with post-adoption counseling assistance as well as provide a support network with other embryo donating and adopting families. They will assist in communication between the two families as determined by the families.

What costs are involved with embryo adoption? Embryo adoption costs are primarily paid by the adopting family. The donating family should NOT expect to be reimbursed for any of the costs they have incurred for IVF or embryo storage.

Agency Fee*
*Addition travel expenses may be incurred for centralized programs. $2,500-$10,000 May or may not include legal fees, embryo shipping, matching services,
counseling, additional medical screening

Home Study/FamilyAssessment $1,000-$2,500 Costs vary by state

Clinic Frozen Embryo Transfer (FET) $2,500-$5,000 Costs vary by clinic

TOTAL $6,000-$17,500 Generally less expensive than domestic or international adoption

Will offering embryos for adoption prevent waiting, available children from being adopted? No. If newborns were available at the same rate as embryos, many adopting families would most likely take the child already born, since there is no guarantee of a pregnancy with embryo adoption and donation. And yet, there are many families for whom the possibility of being able to get pregnant is a crucial factor in their decision to pursue embryo adoption over traditional adoption. It is also important to keep in mind that some families who are looking for newborns may not necessarily be open to adopting children over a certain age or sibling groups, while conversely, families ready to open their homes to a foster situation may not desire to give birth to babies.
What is an anonymous embryo donation? An anonymous donation occurs when donors and recipients do not know one another's identities. No contact is made between the donor or the recipient, either now or in the future. Anonymous donation most often takes place through an IVF clinic, but may also take place through an adoption agency. Most clinics that have an embryo donation program provide very limited information to the recipients about the donors. Donors are rarely involved in the process of selecting recipients, but are sometimes permitted to set stipulations for eligibility to receive their donation. Of course medical information about the donated embryos is provided to the recipient.
Are there limits regarding the acceptance of donated embryos? Healthy children have been born from embryos that had been frozen for more than 12 years. Most experienced embryo adoption agencies will not stipulate a maximize cryopreservation time limit. They generally will accept all embryo donations regardless of the genetic mother's age, length of storage, medical grading or stage of embryo development. All of these items will be disclosed to the potential adopting family as a part of the matching process.
What will happen to my frozen embryos if I choose not to donate them to another family? Should you choose not to donate your embryos, the options are to destroy them in the process of medical research, allow them to thaw and die, or do nothing and keep them in storage until a later time.
Not making a decision is much the same as making the decision to destroy the embryos. Frozen embryos do not have an indefinite shelf-life and will eventually die. Donating your embryos to another couple is a difficult decision. But helping another infertile couple build their family is a caring and compassionate option.
How do we get started?
Continue to look through our website to gain more information on embryo adoption/donation and to hear from other people who have been donors or recipients. The Personal Experiences section includes several testimonies of people's experiences with donating or adopting embryos. Our Videos inform about the frozen embryo situation and portray the decision-making process of donating and adopting families. There is also a list of linked Articles on embryo adoption. If you decide to donate your embryos or to adopt embryos, click on the Finding Help section. We have listed the fertility clinics, adoption agencies, and adoption attorneys for each state so that you have access to resources available in each step of the process. If you have any questions, feel free to Contact Us.

Criteria for Donated Embryos

Can a family who only has one embryo in storage donate that one embryo to a recipient couple? Yes. Because embryo adoption programs typically work with embryos in varying numbers from more than one clinic, it is possible for a donating family with only one embryo, in conjunction with another donating family with more embryos, to be able to offer that embryo to a recipient couple. In the event that embryos from both families are transferred at the same time and a pregnancy results, a DNA test should be performed upon birth of the child to determine the genetic parents of the child.
Are there families who would be interested in receiving embryos on which there is limited medical background and information? This type of situation can be analogized to the domestic adoption where the birthmother doesn 't know who the birthfather is, and yet the child is still adopted. There are families who are willing to work with a situation where there is limited information available on the embryos being offered.
If we used an anonymous egg or sperm donor when we created our embryos, can we still place them for adoption? If the contract you signed with the donor does not specify that the eggs or sperm are for your personal reproductive use only, you can place the embryos with another family. FDA rules and regulations need to be followed. In addition, you will also need to provide any information you have about the donor (i.e. donor profile). Verification of the donor 's infectious disease screen results must be obtained from either the donor agency or your clinic.
The doctor said our embryos are not good quality. Can we still give them to another family? Yes. Some programs have eligibility requirements for embryos, others do not. Be sure to research all your options.
Does the age of the embryos (date frozen) affect our ability to place them for adoption?
No, there have been no definitive studies proving how long embryos can stay frozen and remain viable. There have been successful pregnancies with embryos that have been frozen for more than ten years.
Are there limits on the number of times embryos may be donated? It is in the best interests of the children involved that all of a family's embryos be placed with one adopting family in the hopes that one family will give birth to all the siblings from a group of embryos.
Should the adopting family complete their family building without using all of the adopted embryos, the adopted embryos should be returned to the original donating family. It will be this family's decision whether to place the embryos with a second adopting family.
When a clinic is managing the embryo donation and it is an anonymous, non-directed donation, the clinic will determine how the donated embryos are distributed to recipients. Embryos from one donor may be given to multiple recipients.

The Matching Process

Can the donating family have input regarding who receives their embryos? The level of input will be determined by the fertility clinic or adoption agency through which they are being donated. Frequently donations made through a clinic are anonymous donations. The donor may be able to specify some parameters for the recipient couple. Some clinic programs will allow directed donations.
A donor will generally experience a greater level of control through an agency. They can choose the family who will receive their embryos and determine the future level of contact they will have with the family should they successfully bear children from the donated embryos.
If our donated embryos are matched with an adopting family, will we have legal responsibility for any children born to them? Currently embryo donors are not legally responsible for offspring from their embryos. The legal agreement is an exchange of property between the two parties. Once completed, the adopting family bears all responsibility for any children born from the donated embryos, and the donating family relinquishes all parental rights. An experienced attorney or agency retaining legal expertise should be a part of any embryo adoption agreement.
Are the recipient/adopting families screened? In most donation programs the adopting couple is screened for infectious diseases and for general reproductive health. Some clinic programs will require psychological evalutions (their ability to parent). Adoption agencies will provide the most thorough evaluation of the adopting family, including a criminal background check. They will also provide the adopting family with training in how to be a successful as an adopting parent. The agency is also available to provide the adopting family with assistance in the future as the child matures.
Could the children from embryo donation inadvertently meet their siblings and reproduce? This is a common question asked by embryo, sperm and egg donors. The risk is negligible according to published guidelines and basic statistics. If one couple donates cryopreserved embryos, the chance of accidentally meeting and mating with a sibling is extremely unlikely. Anonymously donating your embryos to someone in a different state will further minimize the risk. Donating your embryos in an open embryo adoption is the best alternative to virtually eliminate this risk. For further information visit the American Society of Reproductive Medicine website.
How do donating families and adopting families find each other? Usually donating families and recipient/adopting families are matched through a clinic or agency. Sometimes donating families self-direct their donation to a couple they have chosen independent of an agency or clinic. There is now an online matching service where donating and recipient families register with their particular profile stipulations and then independently search the listings to find a potential match. Email messages are exchanged the parties determine if the match is final. The service does not match parties, provide legal services, clinic referrals or donor/recipient screening. All of these services must be secured independently.
How are placing and adopting families matched?
The matching process includes the following steps:
There are additional ways for donating and adopting parents to be matched without an attorney or agency. Some IVF clinics will facilitate the matching process, or matches sometimes come about through word of mouth or by searching the Internet. Miracles Waiting, Inc. maintains a website (www.MiraclesWaiting.org) where parents can post profiles as either donors or recipients. These profiles allow an interested party to find a profile that fits their criteria and make contact through email. When considering these options, keep in mind that an attorney or agency can be beneficial in mediating communication between the parties, to provide the safeguards that a traditional adoption offers, and to offer education and assistance throughout the process.
Is it more important to match according to physical attributes or to other characteristics? Families who are receiving embryos typically want children that will look like their family (with similar heredity).
The donating families are concerned with the physical appearance but are also interested in other characteristics that usually are similar to their own such as education, religion, if the mother will work or stay at home, the number of other children in the family, similar financial security, length of marriage, or age of the prospective parents.
What are the most significant legal issues associated with embryo adoption? The most significant legal issue associated with embryo donation and adoption relates to, first, the unsettled nature of embryo adoption law, and second, the contractual agreements used to legally bind donor and recipient couples.
First, both the donor and recipient couples should acknowledge that the law of embryo donation and adoption is unsettled. There are no federal or state laws specifically governing the adoption of embryos although some states do have laws generally related to embryo donation and/or assisted reproductive technology.
Second, the embryo donation and adoption process involves adoption agreement and relinquishment forms, which are legal contracts between the donor and recipient couples. These forms formalize the genetic parents' relinquishment of their parental rights prior to the embryos being transferred to the receiving mother. Once transferred, the embryos belong to the adopting parents. Parties involved should also note that embryos have a special legal status that is yet to be clearly defined. While many courts are reluctant to classify embryos as property, they also do not characterize them as human beings. As a result, embryo adoption programs may differ in how they define embryos in their legal agreements. Some may refer to embryo donation as a transfer of property while others may incorporate traditional adoption language into their legal documents.
What kind of information will we need to provide about ourselves and our embryos from another clinic? You will need to contact your fertility clinic and have them send you and your donation/ adoption organization the embryology reports and freezing and thawing protocols for the embryos, as well as infectious disease screens for the donating parents (or the egg/ sperm donor). If the embryos were created through gamete donation, you will need to submit a copy of the contract you had with your donor, and the information given to you when you selected your donor.
If we place our embryos for adoption, will we be able to know if a pregnancy occurred for the receiving family? Yes. Each program operates differently, but there are programs which allow you to know if a pregnancy occurred and even receive information about the child after birth if you desire.

Transportation of Embryos

Who handles the coordination of the embryos' travel?
If you are working with a private embryo adoption provider, the agency or attorney should coordinate travel for the embryos between the two clinics. Otherwise, the donor will need to discuss with the fertility clinic what paperwork is required to have the embryos released and transferred to another clinic. The donor should also find out what the clinic uses to transport the embryos; often, clinics use glass ampoules or plastic straws that hold up to six embryos. They must be held in temperature-controlled containers in order to preserve them in a frozen state. The embryos can then be shipped overnight via air courier.

In some cases, the recipient may be able to travel to the donors' clinic and have the embryos transferred without the shipping expenses. Recipients need to first find out how they can be become patients at the clinic and whether the transfer can be performed there.
What if our clinic doesn't have a dry shipper? The agency or attorney with whom you are working should be able to coordinate the rental of an appropriate shipping container for you.
How willing are clinics to cooperate with embryo adoption? Most fertility clinics have the best interest of their patients in mind and will guide them through their best options. While some clinics refuse to work with embryos from outside clinics, other clinics will provide the service at their patients' request. Some clinics are open to using an outside service to place their patients' unused embryos but will not refer families to receive embryos.

Fees and Requirements

Does it cost anything for the donating parents to place embryos for adoption? Expenses related to placing your embryos for adoption are usually covered by the recipients. The adopting family is not responsible for any expenses you incurred in the creation and storage of your embryos.
Does the adopting family help with any of the fees owed by the donating parents?
Typically, adopting families do not pick up any costs that accrued prior to having been matched with a donating family. Adopting families do often reimburse donating families for any expenses incurred during or after they are matched. This includes storage and shipping fees, legal costs, and any fees associated with medical or psychological screening. These may be included in the overall program fee if done through an agency. Any sort of direct compensation for the embryos themselves is under the legal jurisdiction of each state, and interested parties should seek legal advice to determine the applicable laws in their states. In general, such payments are not recommended by the American Society for Reproductive Medicine or the American Medical Association on ethical grounds.

Once donating and adopting families have selected one another, the embryos are shipped to the adopting family's clinic, where the adopting family then becomes responsible for storage costs incurred. Depending on how many embryos a donating family has, if an adopting family completes their family with embryos still remaining, there may be a chance that those remaining embryos would once again become the donating family's responsibility for storage fees and selection of another family.
What are the current FDA requirements for blood tests? The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has published regulations regarding human tissue donation that effects embryo donation and adoption. On May 25, 2004, the FDA published final rules addressing donor testing/ screening and good tissue practice. The FDA subsequently issued an interim final rule on May 25, 2005, which amended certain sections of those regulations. For additional information on the rule, see the FDA's web site Question and Answer section at:
Previously, the FDA rules exempted sexually intimate partners engaged in reproductive treatment, from infectious disease testing prior to the creation of their embryos, which were intended for the couple's own use. The interim final rule expanded this exemption, which now permits couples who were not originally screened for infectious disease to donate their cryopreserved embryos to other couples. The regulations do suggest that attempts to test these donor couples should be made before the embryos are transferred to the recipient, but, when testing is not possible, the recipient should at least be advised of the potential communicable disease risk. Given that FDA regulations may change, you should be sure to understand what screening and testing requirements are in effect at the time of your donation.
When issuing the interim final rule, the FDA stated; "We are now adding a new exemption from screening and testing in Sec. 1271.90(a)(4) for cryo preserved embryos that, while originally exempt from the donor eligibility requirement because the donors were sexually intimate partners, are later intended for directed or anonymous donation. When possible, appropriate measures should be taken to screen and test the semen and acolyte donors before transfer of the embryo to a recipient. This change reflects the fact that sexually intimate partners may decide to donate their cryopreserved embryos long after their fertility treatments are completed. Because the embryos were intended for use in a sexually intimate relationship the donors would not have been required to be screened and tested for communicable disease agents at the time that oocytes and semen were recovered. The new provision recommends that appropriate measures be taken to screen and test the semen and oocyte donors before transfer of the embryo to the recipient, when possible.
The current FDA mandated blood tests include:
What counseling should be offered to the donor family as well as to the adoptive family? Counseling is an important component of the services that should be offered in an embryo adoption and, in fact, is specifically included in the American Society for Reproductive Medicine's (ASRM's) guidelines for donating embryos. The type of counseling services made available and offered in an embryo adoption situation should be similar to the counseling services offered for traditional adoptions. For example, local area donating families should be provided with counseling services at no charge. Counseling for local adopting families should be included in their program fees. Referrals should be made for families outside of the geographical area serviced by the agency, clinic, or attorney.