Embryo adoption

mcweix · #1 (**permalink**) 09-26-2007, 05:26 AM

After a crazy month of searching out our options, my RE's office called yesterday and wants to release us to the next IF level. They also suggested giving thought to embryo adoption and since we are adoption advocates we thought YES! But that gives me a new headache...how do I find those? Anyone have any info on this? Ever hear of someone trying it? I will get the details from the RE sometime today or tommorow but we still have to find someone who wants to donate their snowflakes. OMG what next?!

amberl10 · #2 (**permalink**) 09-26-2007, 07:12 AM

The adoption agency we use Bethany Christian Services, has embryo adoption available and they help you find donated embryos, if you have a BCS agency near by you should check it out. You can also go to www.bethany.org for more information.

Chopstickgirl · #3 (**permalink**) 09-26-2007, 08:30 AM

they also have an EA forum, I think, on the site, right?

theluvof2moms · #4 (**permalink**) 09-26-2007, 10:14 AM

I'm sorry I will probably be no help in there area but I wanted to say good luck.

Does your RE office have a donor embryo program you could also start there? I know my RE office has a DE program but I honestly have no idea how it works.

Please share with us because there may be a day that I want to try DE adoption.

mildlydelirious · #5 (**permalink**) 09-28-2007, 06:52 PM

We are absolutely considering donated embryos for our last IVF try. We found ours personally but I've also researched them through my RE's office. My RE did not think I was a candidate for their donated embryos as the donated ones tend to be the worst of the bunch. Meaning, I was already having, lining and immune issues so we needed very strong embies. KWIM? There is a community at Snowflakes.org or .com that has donated embryos. It's been a long time since I researched there so I can't tell you anything about it.

I think it is a terrific idea. If you can wrap yourself around adoption you can certainly go the extra mile needed to be pregnant with adopted embies!

That is, if you want to be pregnant. I loved, loved, loved being pregnant and being able to nurse, but it was a very tough pregnancy and I almost died during childbirth. No one but myself thinks its a good idea for me to be pregnant again. But, the one doing the pregnancy will be me and it is my decision. I have decided without a doubt I'd love to be pregnant again. So, I will try one more time if it all works out.

My 4yo DD was a donated egg. She is biologically my DH's but she is not genetically related to me at all. Although you'd never know it from her actions and reactions to life. She's a little carbon copy of me in those matters. She just has no physical features of mine whatsoever. I mean... none. Lucky kid.

It's a pretty exciting world that we live in when we can consider pregnancy with someone else's DNA.

Why not? Using those embies to make babies instead of science projects is such a very good idea. If we'd have had any embabies left I most certainly would have donated them.

If this is the way you decide to go I want to hear all about it!

~m

Care75 · #6 (**permalink**) 09-29-2007, 05:21 PM

I usually don't post on this forum, but I thought I'd share my experience with donor embryos.

My RE's office has a donor embryo program directly through their office. If you qualify, (which usually means that it has been proven that using your own eggs will not likely work) you get placed on the waiting list. I was 3rd on the waiting list and waited about a month for my chance to choose my embryos. The waiting list has grown considerably since then though!!

They have a donor embryo catalog that you can look through ahead of time to make some decisions. Actually many of the donated embryos at my clinic were from donor egg cycles so actually the quality is quite good. My theory is that it's easier for couples to consider donating if they already used a donor and they know their family is complete.

The embryos I got were high quality blasts from a donor egg/donor sperm cycle. Once we picked the embryos, we had to wait 90 days to transfer because these embryos were brand new to the list so they give a grace period in case people change their minds.

The embryos themselves were a pure donation- no cost. The transfer was the regular FET price for the office.

Well, so far the 2 embryos have worked for me. I'm 18 weeks with boy/girl twins right now. We couldn't be happier, and I'm so grateful to the couple who donated.

Another resource is the Miracles Waiting website. We did pay the money to put ourselves on list but were never contacted. I'm not sure how much traffic that it gets.

I wish you the best of luck. I think this is a wonderful option for many people who may not be able to conceive without this technology.

mcweix · #7 (**permalink**) 10-01-2007, 06:50 AM

Thanks so much ladies. I did get all the info, our clinic will only transfer embabies that were made in their lab and the waiting list is 1.5-2 years long. The cost to be put on the list is $3000 per embaby you are looking to adopt...they recommend 2. Then the medication and transfer and pre+post monitoring for a grand total of $12,000.00 base rate. I almost tipped over! Our RE told us to expect around $3000 so I was shocked! I would really love to go forward but this clinic is the closest and it's 3 hours away. The next one is 6 hours away. It seams like ever road I try comes to a dead end. I'm not sure what to look into next. I really thought this was perfect for us....I'll just have to find anouther way!

Care75 · #8 (**permalink**) 10-02-2007, 04:18 PM

I'm truly SHOCKED!!! I guess we were EXTREMELY fortunate to pay so little (at least in the world of IVF!!). Wow! Our clinic told us that (at least in our state) it was illegal to pay for embryos. I guess this is the big difference between "embryo adoption" and "donor embryos".

I wish you the best of luck on whatever course you end up pursuing!