Post by EmbryoMom on Jul 2, 2010 19:03:31 GMT -5
Open Embryo Donation and Adoption
Jun 9, 2010 Angela Krueger
The process of donating embryos to adopting couples is becoming more open as donors can select a family for the embryo and stay in contact with the child.
After a couple have successfully given birth to children conceived through in-vitro fertilization (IVF), it is not uncommon for them to have embryos leftover. The National Embryo Donation Centre estimates that there are 500,000 cryopreserved embryos in the U.S. alone.
Until recently, couples had four choices of what to do with the unused embryos: destroy the embryos, donate the embryos to science, pay a fee to store the embryos or to anonymously donate them to an adoptive couple. Now there is a fifth choice – to donate the embryos to an adopting or recipient couple and to continue to have contact with the resulting child.
To fully understand the essence of open embryo donation, interested couples need to be familiar with how the process works, and the benefits and challenges of open embryo donation.
Process for Open Embryo Donation and Adoption
Once a couple have decided to donate their embryos to a couple who are interested in pursuing IVF with donor embryos, they contact an agency that specializes in open embryo donation. In the U.S., Snowflakes Embryo Adoption Program offers openness between donor families and families receiving the embryos, and Beginnings Family Services in Canada is now also offering the service.
Both Snowflakes and Beginnings present donor families with profiles of prospective recipient families who have been screened, trained and have had adoption homestudies completed. Once the adoptive family has been chosen, the embryos are implanted into the recipient mother at a fertility clinic.
Benefits of Open Embryo Donation and Adoption
As is the case with open adoptions, the focus of open embryo donation and adoption is the child. With this child-centred approach, open embryo donation and adoption offers:
•Contact between full siblings and genetic parents
•Access to full medical, social and cultural history of genetic parents
•The experience of pregnancy, delivery and nursing to the adoptive parents
•Support and counseling for both the donor and recipient families
•Peace of mind to donor families as they can choose the adoptive family for their embryos
There are no costs to donor families for this service but the adoptive parents pay for the adoption process which is comparable to the fees associated with private adoption.
Challenges of Open Embryo Donation and Adoption
The biggest challenge of open embryo donation and adoption is that there is a lack of legal clarity around the relationship between the donor family and recipient family, so future contact is based on good faith. There are no specific guidelines as to the nature of the relationship between the donor and adoptive families, and it is possible that things turn out differently than expected.
In addition, there is no guarantee of a successful birth which means emotional and financial risks for the recipient family as well.
By understanding the process, benefits and challenges of open embryo donation and adoption, this child-centred perspective can be a very positive experience for donors, adoptive families and most importantly, the child.
Read more at Suite101: Open Embryo Donation and Adoption non-traditional-adoption.suite101.com/article.cfm/open-embryo-donation-and-adoption#ixzz0sZa40pQV