XP: Embryo Adoption/Donation (kind of long)

jessical0604 · June 2012

hey ladies! ok so back story:

My husband and I have been TTC for three years and recently found out we are experiencing severe MFI. Our urologist has already told us that getting pregnant was going to take a lot of work with his sperm count of 8, and it may not be the best option for us, and we should consider other options... we of course have said we will do what we have to do, only sperm donation which is what our doctor suggested just isn't right for us, (not that i am judging ANYONE who it is right for!) just personally we aren't comfortable with it..and though we have said we would like to try IVF, financially speaking it just wouldn't be for a while....my husband and I have been completely open to adoption if thats what it takes for us to get a family though we were pretty bummed about the idea of not getting to experience the pregnancy part of the process. BUT I found online this morning about embryo adoption/donation...I mean I think honestly i have heard of it before but it NEVER crossed my mind and when I saw it a light bulb just dinged in my head!..its a lot cheaper then IVF (with all that we would have to have done mfi speaking) and honestly I don't know that we would even feel like it wasn't ours biologically not that it would matter to us. but to top it off we would get the full experience which seems like a no brainer option for us....

I posted this on the infertility board but thought it could be even more useful on this board! so that being said....anyone know anyone who has taken this route or considered it yourself or is involved doing this right now? I would love to hear any input or advice on this subject if you have any!!!

thanks in advance!!

ellekae · June 2012

Hi there! Sorry to hear about your struggles. Embryo adoption is discussed here on occasion, and I know one poster is currently pregnant via embryo adoption (scroll down to the "I'm pregnant" post to read more about that). Good luck!

ETA:Here is the thread I was talking about

jenbabe · June 2012

We have MFI issues also and did IVF twice, both unsuccessful. I always thought that embryo adoption is the route we would go. But honestly after two IVFs and all the other medical stuff we did, I was just sick of it all and being pregnant didn't seem as appealing anymore. Another factor was that there is no guarantee the embryos or the pregnancy would stick and I couldn't handle any more heartbreak at the doctor's office. So even though I thought we'd go that route originally, once we were ready to pursue adoption we had changed our minds. But I still think its an awesome option, just not for us.

Dr.Loretta · June 2012

Our adoption agency has started an embryo adoption program. PM me for more info. I know they have informational webinars so you can get more info.

crene84 · June 2012

I am currently pursuing embryo adoption. I posted on here a few months ago and was told that some states require you have a home study and all the paperwork of a regular adoption for embryo adoption so it isn't necessarily a cheap option, so be careful about that. However, for me, I'll be doing the embryo adoption through my RE's office which I guess means we don't need to do any of that stuff and the total cost should be under $5,000. I am currently number 8 on the waiting list. They aren't expecting to have an embryo ready for me until early next year so we may also pursue regular adoption at the same time (since embryo adoption is not a guaranteed pregnancy/healthy baby anyways). But yes, I agree, it's a great option.

Good luck!

KarlsSweetie05 · June 2012

I have several resources on donor embryo option that I've posted before.

Look back several pages for donor embryo posts and you should see them.

If not, let me know and I will repost.

jessical0604 · June 2012

thanks so much ladies! sorry i didn't respond sooner its been a crazy past couple of days since i have posted this! i will go back and look for your posts! i had looked before posting this but maybe i missed it!!!!

i totally get where you ladies are coming from for not wanting to pursue it after failed ivf attempts, quite honestly i may feel that way as well had we done ivf prior, but it just may not be in the cards for us, they quoted us that with all that we need done to attempt to get sperm plus ivf total cost for just one cycle would be over 20 grand and for us esp right now it just isn't a plausible option with no guarantee they would even find sperm so this option just seems a little more practical for us unless some miracle happens and my husbands sperm count does a 180 lol...

thank you all again for your responses....once we see our RE and if this is the route we are going I will come back in and do a proper intro

good luck to all you ladies and your journeys!

pinkwedding05 · June 2012

We had our little peach through embryo donation!

We chose it after our 2nd failed IVF. It appeared that egg quality was our issue. We went to the Czech Republic because of their large embryo bank. We decided to go in the middle of May and we were on a plane June 30th. We were only in the clinic 1 hour and spent the rest of our trip having an amazing (and healing) vacation. They matched us based first on blood type and features 2nd. We didn't care about looks, but they have so many that they are able to narrow it down a little. We weren't given a ton of medical info, but we were told that there had already been a success with that batch.

While they don't have any higher FET success rates than anyone else, the biggest thing for us was that their embryos weren't coming from infertile couples (like most in the US). They are from egg donors that are stimmed, but for some reason the receipient can't travel. They will go ahead with the retrieval and then fertilize them with donor sperm. The original couple no longer wants them, so they go into a bank. It is reassuring to us that we aren't passing down infertility to our daughter.

You can do a fresh donor cycle there for cheap ($8000 or so I think) or a frozen for around $2000. If we go back for #2 we'll likely do a fresh for the higher success rates, but that takes more time to plan because they have a waiting list for fresh.

We love our story! Annie thinks all babies come from Czech and she's dying to go there

akprincess72 · July 2012

My husband & I have just decided to pursue embryo adoption. We live in a state without a single fertility clinic or office that will transfer embryos (for any reason) so we will be traveling to accomplish this. Still deciding which agency to use. For us it seems to be the best of both worlds for both our medical issues & ethical concerns. It's our last, best hope to try.
If you've found out anything awesome or just want to compare notes, let me know.

michelerenee76 · August 2012

Hi there fellow Alaskan, Juneauite here! I believe we are the only state in the country that does not have a fertility clinic!

My husband and I have also just made the decision to pursue embryo adoption. We will be cycling in Czech Republic in October! I should hear back from Reprofit tomorrow.

I am expecially nervous about this because I will be travelling alone. We want to save on a plane ticket and have heard from other forums that it is a very easy procedure with only a couple hours of time in the clinic.

Do you have a timeframe of when you want to cycle?

akprincess72:
My husband & I have just decided to pursue embryo adoption. We live in a state without a single fertility clinic or office that will transfer embryos (for any reason) so we will be traveling to accomplish this. Still deciding which agency to use. For us it seems to be the best of both worlds for both our medical issues & ethical concerns. It's our last, best hope to try.
If you've found out anything awesome or just want to compare notes, let me know.

Want a personalized experience?

XP: Embryo Adoption/Donation (kind of long)

Re: XP: Embryo Adoption/Donation (kind of long)

Choose Another Board

Search Boards