Bob and Angie’s Story of Embryo Donation and Adoption

On December 26, 1998, after 2 ½ years of fertility treatments including IVF, we found out that we were finally pregnant! Words can hardly begin to describe the joy we felt. That joy became even more intensified a few weeks later when we find out we were having twins. What a blessing!

On June 22, 1999 (10 weeks early), our twins were born. At that time the doctors delivering the twins recommended that I not get pregnant again. It was too risky. Because we had two healthy children (a boy & a girl) this news was not too disappointing to us. However, we had 13 precious babies frozen. Their lives were valuable to us. Therefore, we knew that taking their lives by thawing and disposing of them or using them for scientific research was not an option for us.

We had heard of embryo donation and started researching it. Later, we heard about embryo adoption, a program where we could choose the type of parents that would raise our children. Although it was hard to let go of our embryos, we knew we wanted them to have a chance to live. The opportunity to help another couple suffering with infertility gave us great satisfaction. Had we not been able to have our genetic children, we would have wanted the opportunity to adopt embryos and experience the joy of pregnancy.

After attending a function where we were able to meet a number of families who adopted embryos, we were amazed to see the great joy and fulfillment these children brought to their lives. At that point, we knew with even greater confidence that we had made the right decision. We are eternally grateful to the couple who adopted our embryos and gave them a chance at life.