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Donor embryo question

somewhereinnycsomewhereinnyc member
in Infertility
Hello, this question is specifically toward those who know about donor embryos. 

I’ve done 1 cycle of IVF at 33 and we likely have 2 blastocysts that are remaining after we are done having kids 🤞 (no chromosomal testing). We are considering donating them, and I was wondering how it works on the recipients’ end. Does the recipient couple ever meet the donor couple? Does the baby from the donor embryo have the option of meeting his or her biological parents if he or she desires? Or does this all depend on the agency? Thanks for sharing your experiences and thoughts on this! 
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Re: Donor embryo question

  • laurelewlaurelew member
    @somewhereinnyc I had done some research into purchasing a donated embryo to conceive prior to deciding on pursing donor eggs.  In my experience, it is all based on the agency you go through.  I had read one girl's account of using a donor embryo and in her situation her profile was shared with prospective parents and vice versa, so that both had to agree (almost like online dating) before the donation took place.  The two families had the option to communicate afterwards.  With my clinic it is all anonymous and very little information is given about the donor family (no pictures, just height, weight, eye and hair color, education level, and medical history).  Part of the reason why I opted for donor eggs instead of a donor embryo was because of the wealth of information I could view about the egg donor -- although it was still technically anonymous.
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  • somewhereinnycsomewhereinnyc member
    @lauralew it irritates me that an infertile couple has to “purchase” an embryo of a couple that wants to donate (not sell) their embryo to another couple that is infertile. Is it at least low cost?
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  • laurelewlaurelew member
    @somewhereinnyc It would have been much cheaper than donor egg.  Some of the cost of it did include the transfer but I do think that there were additional fees on top of that.

    There are some organizations out there who will help match couples who are looking to donate embryos with potential adoptees.  However those options seemed more DIY to me in that you had to contract with an attorney to draw up a contract of transfer of goods (I believe may have been how they worded it) and also arrange to have the embryo shipped to the adoptees' clinic or lab of choice.  That process works very well for many couples but it felt overwhelming to me, which is why the idea of going through my clinic seemed more appealing.
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  • J1006J1006 member
    @somewhereinnyc We are adopting embryos and working with an agency to do so. We are not paying for the embryos but the services provided by the agency, just like a traditional adoption. The agency we went through matches us with a donor couple based on several preferences, one of those being openness of the relationship you want with the donor family. We chose to have an open relationship because we want our children to know their biological parents and siblings. The agency also takes care of the legal contracts and shipping the embryos to the clinic I will be transferring at. 
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