When you choose to pursue an embryo adoption, your family profile will be the first and best opportunity to introduce yourself to a placing family! At first, it may seem intimidating to get started. You may have questions as follows:
What do placing families want to hear about?
What information and photos you include?
What should you not include?
How many photos of my life do they really want to see?
Fear not! We have simplified the process for you! Presenting eight tips for creating a family profile that will help connect you with placing families:
1. Show Appreciation. The tone of your profile should be one of appreciation. Even though you are writing a profile about yourself, the placing family is giving you the opportunity to become parents! This process is as much about them as it is about you. Often the decision to place embryos is an extremely difficult one. So make sure to convey thankfulness.
2. Include Appealing Family Photos. When selecting photos to include in your profile, you will want to be intentional. You should make sure to select a variety of old and new photos. Additionally, you should consider what messages your photos are communicating. Consider your audience. Photos should also be focused on the subject you are trying to communicate, close up and clear to see. Of course, high quality (larger file sizes), not grainy or blurred are preferred.
3. Describe Your Support System. When writing your profile, consider adding a description about your relationship support system. This may be family members, friends, neighbors, etc. Sharing this information provides placing families the peace of mind that, if you ever needed additional help, you have access to it.
4. Avoid Using Inside Jokes. While you want to give placing families a full picture of who you are, inside jokes are not the best way to do this. Inside jokes necessitate that you “had to be there” in order to understand why the joke is funny. If you were not there when the joke was made, the joke becomes confusing, and it can make placing families feel disconnected to you.
5. Be a Storyteller, Not an Interviewee. When provided the criteria you must include in your profile, avoid covering the topics like an interviewee. Meaning, your profile should read like a story that flows from one topic to another, rather than reading like a set of interview responses (e.g. writing out each criteria and responding with facts rather than examples).
6. Pay Attention to Length. You should attempt to find a middle ground between too long and too short. On average, it should take your audience about 15 minutes to read your profile in its entirety.
7. Don’t Forget to Edit! As you get caught up in creating the profile, an easy mistake to make is to forget to edit. Having a friend or family member proofread your profile is a great idea. And don’t forget to correct spelling and grammatical errors—yes, it’s important!
8. And, above all else, be authentic. When you are writing your profile, strive to be as authentic and genuine as possible. If you “oversell” yourself, donating families will notice. For example, avoid using phrases like “my wife and I never fight” or “I know I will be the perfect parent.” Placing families are well aware that spouses have disagreements and that no one is perfect.
To learn more tips on creating your adopting family profile for embryo adoption, you can watch our webinar here. To learn more about embryo donation and adoption, visit EmbryoAdoption.org.
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