Embryo Adoption Program

Adoption is an act of love, fulfilled by the courage of couples who want to share their love with children. Embryo adoption is life-giving love in action in an age of technology.

Patients, couples and intended parents, who choose to adopt donated embryos, may do so for a number of reasons. For instance, receiving donated embryos in many cases is less expensive than traditional adoption or receiving donor eggs. As well, unlike traditional adoption, adopting donated embryos allow the recipient couple to experience pregnancy related events, including early bonding; labor and delivery; breastfeeding; etc. In addition, the process of receiving donated embryos is less visible to the public and therefore more private than traditional adoption.

All patients who donate embryos through the American Embryo Adoption Agency meet all state and federal regulations and are comprehensively tested for infectious diseases. Donors that provide embryos have  been screened for health risks and many other traits that would be considered undesirable to parents. Potential Embryo Adoptive Patients receive detailed information about the donor options that includes detailed history on the health of the donors, along with medical history, family history, genetic history, surgeries, and much more. Information provided in our program is similar to the information that would be provided with any egg donor program or sperm bank. This gives the recipient the opportunity to review a potential match and feel comfortable in selecting a pregnancy with donor embryos. The donors relinquish all rights to the embryos and children at the time of donation. The donor embryo recipients (intended parents) become the legal parents of the donated embryos. The recipient of the donated embryos is able to experience pregnancy and birth as with any other pregnancy. 

How is the American Embryo Adoption Agency's Embryo Adoption Program unique?

• Our Program does not require the recipient(s) to have a “home study” performed (~$1,000 to $3,000), “attorney fees” ($3,000 to $7,000), “social worker study” (~$175 to $200) or Adoption fees (~$30,000 to $50,000).
• Our Program does not require third party/outside agency involvement.
• Our Program does not discriminate against patients because of their age, marital status, ethnic background or sexual preference.
• Our Program does not have a waiting list or life style (i.e., single, same sex) exclusion criteria.
• Genetic carrier screening (GCS) of the egg donor can identify and eliminate the risk for passing hundreds of genetic disorders (i.e., cystic fibrosis, spinal muscular atrophy, fragile X syndrome) to your child.
• New methods of pre-implantation genetic screening (PGS) provide an opportunity to identify chromosomally normal embryos for transfer in embryo adoption cycles. Among the many improvements to historical methods of PGS, new technology provides information for the normalcy of all 24 chromosomes, and has been termed comprehensive chromosome screening (CCS). CCS can eliminate the transfer of chromosomally abnormal embryos (i.e., Down’s Syndrome). CCS also has powerful evidence of improving ART outcomes, including healthy live birth rates.
• You can use CCS for controlled sex selection for family balancing giving you more control of the composition of your family.
• You can test your embryo’s Mitochondrial DNA for added reassurance that your blastocysts will lead to a live birth.

If you are interested in having a child or children, and you are thinking that this seems like a great way to have a baby, you’re right! This is a wonderful way to add to your family even if you already have children. While many couples that seek out our reproductive services are not able to have children, this option is available to families with a child or children that would like to have more.

Do you have concerns?

Embryo Donation or Adoption is a big decision. You may wonder, "Is this right for me? Does it fit my value system?"  While only you can answer those questions, please consider the following:

• As estimated 600,000 or more embryos are currently in frozen storage in the U.S. alone. Donation and adoption gives these embryos a chance at life. It is a decision that both donor families and recipient families can feel good about.
• Some people worry that embryo adoption creates delays for children waiting to be adopted traditionally. The fact is traditional infant adoption numbers have declined greatly since the 1970s. Today only about 1.7% of single pregnant women place their child for adoption. Many families must wait years to be able to adopt an infant.
• Others are concerned that their child could grow up and inadvertently meet and marry their biological sibling. In a large society, there is a very low risk of this happening, no more than in a traditional closed adoption. Keep in mind that most embryos come from families who have already had their children, so any biological siblings would likely be significantly older than your baby.
• "But I want my child to look like me." If this is important to you, you can choose to adopt an embryo that shares the ethnic background or physical features of you and your partner.
• You may worry that donated embryos aren't as high quality--that the donor family already used all their "good" embryos. But this is not the case; normally, only viable high quality embryos are frozen during the donor family’s fresh IVF cycle. Most donated embryos come from families who achieved pregnancy and gave birth; thus these embryos come from a successful ART procedure.

What's the next step?

We encourage you to contact our office to schedule an appointment with our physician to discuss Embryo Adoption, and all AEAA has to offer. We want to get to know you and hear the dreams you have for your future family. We'd be happy to give you more information and answer any questions you might have. Our objective is to assist every AEAA patient with achieving their goal of starting or enlarging their family. We do our best to ensure patients have a clear understanding of their embryo adoption options, so they are able to choose the option that will best fit their needs. Our highly trained team of professionals is here to answer your questions and assist you with your journey. If you are interested in embryo adoption, please feel free to contact us by calling (615) 321-8866.