The toll of infertility treatments like IUIs, IVF cycles, donor eggs/sperm, and surrogacy have left many families drained emotionally, physically, and especially financially.
When infertility treatments do not go as planned, many families turn to adoption to build their families, but are discouraged to discover that domestic infant and international adoption programs are just as expensive (if not more so!) than past fertility treatments.
Thankfully, there is a low-cost adoption option that you may wish to consider: Embryo Adoption.
Embryo adoption allows you to experience pregnancy and give birth to your adopted child! Embryo donors do not get reimbursed for their donation. They donate their remaining frozen embryos because they want them to have a chance at a full life for which they were created. It is an incredible gift they are giving to another family who wishes to build or expand their family.
So, what is the cost analysis if you were to pursue this type of adoption?
Here is an average cost breakdown:
Program Fees: $6,000 and $10,000
It’s important for to understand the fee structure for programs that offer embryo donation and adoption services: All-inclusive and a la carte price structures.
All-inclusive is exactly what it sounds like, all services covered under one fee, without the worry that you will be missing out on a vital service the program has to offer. An a la carte price structure will allow you to pick and choose which services you wish to receive. Usually, the more services you choose, the cost of the program will be higher. Services will probably include, but are not limited to administrative costs, home study review, matching services, legal and attorney fees, communication with donor family (if desired), coordination of information between fertility clinics, shipping of your embryos between clinic locations, permanent record keeping, counseling services, additional resources, required FDA infectious disease testing for your donor family, plus other potential services.
If you work with a fertility clinic embryo donation program, fees are generally lower, ranging between $6,000 – $8,000. However, the services provided are not as extensive as that of an adoption agency. Open communication between the donor and recipient families may not be possible. The number of embryos available may be limited and the list of families waiting for embryos long. (You can learn more about the difference between embryo donation and embryo adoption here.)
Home Study Fees: $1,000 and $3,000
Some embryo adoption programs require their recipient families to complete and pass an adoption home study. Home studies are a vital part of the embryo adoption process. This will give the agency a chance to meet your family, learn more about you, and have the information needed to match you to the right donating family. Donors appreciate the home study process, as it gives them additional peace-of-mind regarding a potential match with an adopting family.
Medical/Transfer Fees: $2,500 and $7,000
These fees will be billed by the fertility clinics and reproductive endocrinologist for the medical preparation for the frozen embryos transfer and the FET procedure itself. Fees fluctuate based on what health insurance coverage you may have, where the facility is located, plus other determining factors.
In the end, you may be looking at a total of $8,500 – $20,000 for an embryo adoption. Which, compared to the costs of other adoption programs, is much more affordable! And there are ways to fund any adoption process, which you can read up more on in our blog How to Prepare for Adoption Costs.
To learn more about embryo donation and adoption, visit EmbryoAdoption.org.
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