really at a loss here - need advice

susanc07 · May 2010

okay, so we have 6 embryos frozen. it costs $50/month to store them. after B&N pulled through, we filled out the form in february to donate them to an infertile couple. the paperwork said that we would be responsible for the storage fee until the necessary testing had been completed.

fast forward - i get a bill in the mail last week for $200 for storage. i called to see what was going on and they said i have to keep paying until a couple decides they want to use them. WTF? they said i could always sign a release for them to discard them, but i'm not comfortable with that for moral and religious reasons.

should i maybe look into donating them to some sort of agency? we really can't afford to keep storing them.

t.bird · May 2010

i'm not really sure- we have 5 embryos frozen & we've been paying $1k per year since 2008 when the 1st one was frozen (same price whether you freeze 1 or 10)

i know we want to use them, so we keep paying. but if we weren't planning on using them then we'd donate them & then we wouldn't have to pay anymore.

susanc07 · May 2010

t.bird:
i'm not really sure- we have 5 embryos frozen & we've been paying $1k per year since 2008 when the 1st one was frozen (same price whether you freeze 1 or 10)

i know we want to use them, so we keep paying. but if we weren't planning on using them then we'd donate them & then we wouldn't have to pay anymore.

see - i don't understand - if we are going to donate them, and the facility could potentially make money off of them - why we would still pay to store them? that doesn't make sense to me.

LTF525 · May 2010

Could you call your RE and ask them if they know of a another place locally that accepts frozen embros?

yogisunam · May 2010

There are probably clinics that might accept your embryos, but you may have to sign away all rights to them. It's possible that if a couple wants to adopt them you can "charge" them the storage fees, but it's after the fact.

staycee · May 2010

susanc07:

the paperwork said that we would be responsible for the storage fee until the necessary testing had been completed.

find a copy of that paperwork. Does it say nothing about paying to store them until someone uses them? That could be indefinite and doesn't seem fair at all.

murphyec · May 2010

It sounds very shady to me too.

gidge · May 2010

I agree that it seems strange and it's hard to believe they haven't been snatched up. When I asked about donor embryo at my clinic, our RE said they currently have a 2 year wait!

Serendipitie · May 2010

(((HUGS))) I hope you get it worked out soon

yogisunam · May 2010

I think it might be legit. Think about the logistics...it's both risky and expensive to store the embryos. I did some quick googling and even some nonprofit centers charge the donating couples to store the embryos. There's a place in TX that is $350 the first year and $300 each additional. It might be worth calling such a facility would consider your case, though.