Embryo Adoption on 'The Katie Show'

"The Katie Show" recently featured a special segment focusing on embryo donation and adoption. Two stories of embryo adoption were shared including Dan and Kelli Gassman and their 9-month old son Trevor.  Guests also included Dr. Robin Poe-Zeigler, their Reproductive Endocrinologist, and Kimberly Tyson, Marketing and Program Director for the Embryo Adoption Awareness Center. Please click here to see the full broadcast.

A Snowflake Is Born - Zoe's Story

Zoe Annadelle Johnson was born on November 9, 2012, but her life began 3 years before that. Zoe was one of six embryos created on May 8, 2009 through the use of In-vitro fertilization (IVF). When she was 5 days old she was frozen. God had big plans for these tiny, unique, pre-born “snowflake” babies.

Embryos #1 and #2 were chosen to be transferred to their biological mother. Both embryos implanted and nine months later they were blessed with the births of a son and a daughter. With their family of four completed, their attention quickly shifted to the fate of the four frozen embryos waiting for their chance to be born.

Zoe’s biological parents were presented with the standard options for her future as a “extra” embryo: destroy them, donate them to scientific research (which would then destroy them), anonymously donate them to an infertile couple, or find a family to adopt and carry them to term. Reflecting on their belief that life begins at fertilization, they quickly realized that destroying them or donating them to research would terminate the precious life that had been created. The fate of the remaining embryos weighed heavily on their minds and hearts for two years until they connected online with Charis & Duffy Johnson in the fall of 2011.

About 170,000 IVF Embryo Deaths Per Year in the U.S.

NEW YORK, November 22, 2002 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A study in the current issue of the journal Fertility and Sterility, the official journal of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, boasts that artificial fertility techniques have become more effective over the years.  The author of the study, Dr. James P. Toner, of the Atlanta Center for Reproductive Medicine in Woodstock, Georgia, writes that the rate of births per IVF attempt at pregnancy has increased from 10% to 30% from 1985 to 1999.  However, a look at the government statistics Toner used in his analysis reveal that approximately 170,000 human embryos created in 1999 (when the practice became more effective according to Toner’s analysis) died in the process of attempting to conceive a child viain vitro fertilization.

The statistics from the Centers for Disease Control indicate that in 1999, some 21,501 children were born using assisted reproductive techniques (ART).  In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) accounts for 73.5% of the ART methods.  In order to achieve the 21,501 births, 86,822 ART cycles were reported wherein on average 3 embryos are transferred per cycle.

See the Reuters coverage of the study:  http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20021120/hl_nm/reproduction_success_dc_2   See the CDC stats on the 1999 ART report:  http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/drh/ART99/section1.htm

Frozen Embryos: Biotech's Hidden Dilemma PART 3 of 3

Ron Stoddart, director of Nightlight Christian Adoptions, a nonprofit that facilitates Christian adoption, David Cook, a Wheaton College bioethics expert, and Ellen Painter Dollar, the author of a forthcoming book about Christian perspectives on reproductive and genetic technology, weigh in on what should be done with frozen embryos left over atfertility clinics.

First, Help Couples

Christians need much better resources for ethical and theological reflection.

by: Ellen Painter Dollar

Our oldest daughter inherited from me a disabling bone disorder called osteogenesis imperfecta (OI). When she was 2 years old and living through a harrowing cycle of broken bones, we underwent pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) in an attempt to have a second child who would not have OI.

PGD is in-vitro fertilization (IVF) with the added step of genetic screening. Only one of four embryos tested negative for OI and was implanted, but I did not get pregnant. (We eventuallyconceived both our second and third children naturally; neither of them inherited OI.) We had the other three embryos destroyed. We made that decision with little reflection, in the emotional muddle of caring for a broken toddler while undergoing a strenuous procedure loaded with tough questions.

Frozen Embryos: Biotech's Hidden Dilemma PART 2 of 3

Ron Stoddart, director of Nightlight Christian Adoptions, a nonprofit that facilitates Christian adoption, David Cook, a Wheaton College bioethics expert, and Ellen Painter Dollar, the author of a forthcoming book about Christian perspectives on reproductive and genetic technology, weigh in on what should be done with frozen embryos left over at fertility clinics.

Take Responsibility for Embryos

There are no ideal scenarios, but we must work for a solution.

by: David Cook

Before we can set significant guidelines regarding the fate of unused, frozen human embryos, we must ask: Who is responsible for them? Since embryos cannot make decisions, who gets to decide whether they will be donated, adopted, or destroyed?

Parents decide for their children, and families decide what will happen to an unconscious or dying family member.

Good fertility clinics will have clear protocols protecting the rights of parents and donors. The embryos in question were created to help the childless, so adopting or donating fulfills the same goal for the benefit of the child and the childless.

But parents are not the only ones who need to take responsibility.

Frozen Embryos: Biotech's Hidden Dilemma PART 1 of 3

Part One by: Ron Stoddart
Originally posted by Christianity Today, July 28, 2010

Ron Stoddart, director of Nightlight Christian adoptions, a nonprofit that facilitates Christian adoption, David Cook, a Wheaton College bioethics expert, and Ellen Painter Dollar, the author of a forthcoming book about Christian perspectives on reproductive and genetic technology, weigh in on what should be done with frozen embryos left over at fertility clinics.

When couples choose in-vitro fertilization to create embryos to help build their families, the unused embryos are frozen for future attempts at pregnancy. Most couples are unprepared for what to do with remaining embryos once their family is complete. There are over 500,000 embryos currently frozen in storage at American clinics.

Although together these embryos occupy a space the size of a 12mm cube—the size of a board game die—they represent the population of a city the size of Atlanta. Size is subject to perspective. We all look mighty small from the moon. But to God, we are wondrously made and valuable at every stage of development.

“The Disposition Decision” — What to Do With the Embryos?

by: Albert Mohler

For most Americans, the moral status of the human embryo is a question that seems quite remote. Even as hundreds of thousands of “excess” human embryos are now stored in American fertility clinics and laboratories, to most Americans these frozen embryos are out of sight and out of mind. Thus, one of the most important moral challenges of our day remains largely off the screen of our national discourse. The issue cannot remain out of sight or out of mind for long.

Indeed, for hundreds of thousands of couples (and in many cases, just individuals) this crucial moral question grows more difficult to ignore by the day. For those whose progeny are now frozen in fertility clinics, the “disposition decision” will eventually have to be made. The decision about the eventual disposition of these human embryos will reveal what these couples truly believe about human dignity and the sanctity of human life. On the larger landscape, the pattern of these decisions and the policies adopted by medical practitioners will reveal the soul of our culture as well.

Writing in The New Atlantis, Jacqueline Pfeffer Merrill contributes an essay on this issue that is both informative and haunting. She begins with an anecdote that establishes the moral sense of urgency we face on this issue:

Noah Markham was born in January 2007 to worldwide media notice. Like his Biblical namesake, this Noah had been saved from a flood. He had been one in a barrel of frozen embryos transported in a flat-bottomed boat from a flooded east New Orleans hospital in the days after Hurricane Katrina by the Louisiana State Police and Illinois Conservation Police. Interviewed at the time of Noah’s birth, his mother, Rebekah Markham, said that she and her husband Glen were uncertain about whether they would use their remaining three frozen embryos to add to their family of Noah and his big brother Witt. Interviewed again on the occasion of Noah’s first birthday, she said, “How can I not? I’m happy with two, but how can you not when you know what the possibility is? We almost lost Noah. I don’t want to lose the others voluntarily.”

FREE Online Embryo Adoption Matching

Find your embryos online for free at www.NRFA.org.

The National Registry for Adoption  (or NRFA) is an online matching service that allows embryo adoptive families connect with embryo donors. It is an affordable and expedient way to make embryo"Adoption Simplified".

Currently, NRFA is allowing participants to try out their website for 6 months with coupon code: FAMILY316 (families waiting for embryos) or DONATEFREE (families with embryos). Apply the code at checkout on www.NRFA.org to the 6 month package.

Credit: The National Registry for Adoption

Embryo Adoption Video Contest

There's a GREAT video contest featuring stories of embryo adoption being showcased on facebook from April 15-30th.

Check out and VOTE for Charis & Duffy's video here:

Photo: PixelPerfectPhotoBlog.com

Telestration Tuesday - Chapter 6: Give Birth to Your Adopted Child

Credit: Embryo Adoption Awareness Center

Telestration Tuesday - Chapter 5: Embryo Adoption Pros & Cons

Telestration Tuesday - Chapter 4: The Process of Embryo Adoption

Credit: Embryo Adoption Awareness Center

Steps of an Embryo Adoption

1. Locate your donor/"bio-family". There are several ways to do this. You can sign up through an agency or online matching service.

2. Get your doctor's approval. Your fertility doctor will look at all the medical factors and then give you their recommendation. Once you're serious about a potential match, ask for their medical & embryo records so that your doctor can have all the information and point out any facts you may have overlooked or misunderstood.

3. Sign a contract. In most states, embryo adoption is considered a "property transfer" much like selling a vehicle. If you prefer to, you can tailor your contract to be more like a traditional adoption agreement.

4. Arrange transportation for the embryos. This is much easier than it sounds. The clinic currently  housing the embryos will tell you which tranportation company they prefer and give you their contact info. You will sign some paperwork, give them your payment info, tell them which clinic to ship it to and they will take care of the rest.

5. Start taking meds. Once your embryos have arrived safely at their new clinic, your doctor will start you on medicine (estrogen & maybe progesterone) to prepare your body. Typically, you can expect to take one or two pills per day with little to no side effects.

6. Frozen embryo transfer. This procedure is very similiar to a papsmear. It's pretty quick and painless. Then on to bedrest for 24-48 hours depending on your doctor's reccomendation.

Telestration Tuesday - Chapter 3: How Do I Dontate MY Reamaining Embryos?

Credit: Embryo Adoption Awareness Center

Telestration Tuesday - Chapter 2: I Have Remaining Embryos...Help!

Credit: Embryo Adoption Awareness Center

Telestration Tuesday - Chapter 1: I'm Infertile, Now What?

Credit: Embryoadoption.org

How much does it cost?

Adopting frozen embryos and then having them implanted must cost a FORTUNE, right? Wrong! It can actually cost less than a traditional adoption. While most domestic and international adoptions cost upwards of $20,000 - an embryo adoption and FET (frozen embryo transfer) can be as little as $3,000. Here is the breakdown of expenses you can expect to incur:

Legal Fees: A standard legal contract and processing typically runs around $500.

Transportation: The shipment of the embryos to your clinic usually costs $400-500.

Medical Expenses: $2,500. Depending on the clinic, most doctors charge an estimated flat fee of $1,000 which includes all appointments, sonograms, and the frozen embryo transfer (FET). There is usually an additional fee of $1,500 to use the labortory, embryologist, and facilities for the Embryo Transfer.

Medication: Depending on the medication that your doctor chooses to prescribe and your insurance coverage, your cost here can greatly vary. Typically you are prescribed Estradiol (a pill) to be taken for two weeks prior to the transfer, and progesterone (a pill, suppository, or shot) to be taken for a few weeks after the transfer. Typically, these are pretty inexpensive fertility drugs.

Embryos: While it is illegal for anyone to sell their embryos, it can cost $0-10,000 for you to locate your embryos depending on the method you use. If you use a website to locate a family with extra embryos, there is little to no charge. If you use an agency to find embryos, it can cost $10,000 to be matched with a donor family.

My story: we didn't have the funds to go through an agency so we located a family on our own using a website. Our adoption of 4 embryos cost $3,200 and took about 2 months to complete.