The terms “embryo adoption” and “embryo donation” are sometimes used interchangeably, but in fact, represent very different perspectives on the care and consideration of embryos.
While the act of placing one’s remaining embryos with another family is considered a property transfer in the U.S. and is governed by contract law, embryo adoption programs validate the reality that this transaction results in a child being parented by a family who are not genetically related to him. Applying the term “adoption” to the placement of embryos emphasizes the personhood and dignity of the embryo, while the term “donation” is more of a clinical or transactional term.
Embryo adoption acknowledges that there is a child to be cared for and nurtured, rather than treating the embryo as a donation or commodity. This aligns with the belief that life begins at conception, making the embryo a human being with intrinsic worth.
There are many other differences between embryo adoption and embryo donation programs:
Embryo donation programs, such as the model used in fertility clinics, are generally completely anonymous. There is no opportunity for communication between the parties and the donating family is completely unaware of who receives their embryos. The adopting family could be their neighbors or co-workers, and they would never know! Conversely, embryo adoption programs allow for more input from the embryo donors and encourage at least some level of openness and communication between donating and adopting families. For example, the Snowflakes® Program promotes communication and openness, which has proven beneficial not only for the child, but for the donating and adopting parents as well. Even placing families who choose to not communicate with the adopters will receive important updates about transfers, pregnancies, and births.
With embryo donation programs, the embryo donors have no control or input over who receives their remaining embryos, and receive no updates about pregnancies or births. Adoption programs like Snowflakes® allow the donating families to choose the family who will receive the gift of their embryos.
Embryo donation programs usually split an embryo cohort amongst several different recipients, each recipient only receiving 1-2 embryos, or enough to hopefully achieve just one pregnancy. This means genetic siblings are potentially being raised my multiple families. Snowflakes® and other embryo adoption programs place with the adopting family the entire cohort of the embryos, giving them the opportunity to parent genetic siblings and maintain the connection between these siblings.
Education and resources are generally not offered to families placing embryos through a donation program. Since embryo adoption recognizes that more than a simple transaction is taking place, adoption agencies offer education, emotional support (including counseling), and other resources to assist both donating and adopting families.
Making the decision to place one’s remaining embryos with another family is often a very emotional and grief-filled experience. On the other side, adoptive parents are often processing their own grief related to infertility or other forms of loss. The openness and child-centric approach that defines embryo adoption provides a path to healing and peace for both parties.
To learn more about embryo donation and adoption, visit EmbryoAdoption.org.
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