Leftover Embryos

huskerchica

I apologize in advance if this is not the appropriate place to post this and/or ask this question.  

I have 2 frozen embryos.  We have decided that we will not be using them (I did several transfers and they didn't work and we cannot afford to do more transfers.  Sadly, my body just doesn't respond well to IVF).  

My question is, does anyone know of a place I can donate them to for scientific research?  And/or other options since we have made the very hard decision not to use them.  

Thank you in advance for your sensitivity and advice.  

lady_grey

Hi @huskerchica, I would discuss this with your fertility clinic.  I know there are ways that you could donate them to another couple in need.  Or they could be discarded.  I'm not sure if viable embryos have research studies done on them, seems like a bit of an ethical dilemma.  That wasn't an option on the forms we filled out, it was either donate to another couple or discard like in the event of our deaths.  Hope that helps.  

ReesaAnne16

I don't know about research, but there are options for donating embryos to other couples. https://www.embryoadoption.org/

PCOSat25

You can definitely donate them to science! Talk to your clinic. My husband and I actually had to sign like a million pages of paperwork BEFORE our ivf deciding what to do with our embryos in certain scenarios (death, divorce, etc.). The options were to keep them in storage forever, destroy them, donate them to science or donate them for embryo adoption. 

wifeinraleigh28

Yes, you can donate them to scientific research and this is exactly what DH and I plan to do with our leftover embryos. We've decided that this option is better for us than discarding them because we would feel like we were giving back to the field that helped us so much. Talk to your clinic, it is possible!

dragonfaerie

There's a company called Nightlight that does embryo adoption, but your clinic should have other places they work with too for donation to other couples or science.
I'm sorry that you are at the place you have to make this decision. Hugs for you

huskerchica

Thank you for the replies.  Sadly, our clinic does not have any resources for us.  I'm still looking into places I can have them shipped and donated.  Thank you again!