A year from a now a single woman or couple in the Land Down Under may cradle a child that bears a striking resemblance to Emily*. This child’s genetic parents, David* and Judith* may never discover if such a child has been born, however, as they generously determined to anonymously donate their one remaining embryo to the family in greatest need.

Judith is unworried she may never know what came to be of this embryo. Judith and her husband ‘are trusting the embryo to the wind’ (The Sidney Morning Herald).

Infertility is a major health problem in Australia, according to Profesor Jenni Millbank who conducted a study of the attitudes of 349 people in Australia who have stored embryos. Over 100,000 embryos are believed to be in storage in Australia and most are still being used for family building for those for whom they were created (The Sidney Morning Herald). Less than 10 percent of those embryos are in long-term storage and most of those are discarded or used for scientific research (The Sidney Morning Herald). According to Millbank’s study, 27 percent of those with embryos in frozen storage would donate an embryo, and 31 percent would consider donating (The Sidney Morning Herald).

Professor Millbank told The Sidney Morning Herald, ‘We don’t have any real access to local adoption or international adoption. Donated embryos could provide a real solution.’

In 2009, 36 children from Australia and New Zealand were born from donated embryos (The Sidney Morning Herald).

However, Mark Bowman, medical director of Genea, a fertility clinic formerly known as Sydney IVF, stated, ‘There is potential for the relationships of those involved, including a child, to become incredibly complex and offering the service in a responsible way would require a level of counseling akin to that required for adoption’ (The Sidney Morning Herald). At present, Genea is not offering embryo donation services.

Peter Illingworth, medical director of IVF Australia, believes that more support is needed for people with stored embryos. Illingworth stated, ‘At the point when couples reach the view their embryos are excess to need, we’re looking at giving them access to counseling’ (The Sidney Morning Herald).

To learn more about Australia’s views on embryo adoption, visit The Sidney Morning Herald (Please note that *names were changed in the original article.) For more on Embryo Adoption in the United States, please visit the Embryo Adoption Awareness Center.

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