Embryo Donation

 

Embryo donation is one disposition option for users of in vitro fertilisation with remaining fresh or frozen embryos. It is defined as the giving—generally without compensation—of embryos remaining after in vitro fertilization procedures to recipients for procreative implantation or research. Most IVF users with supernumerary embryos make embryo donation decisions after completing their families or discontinuing use of in vitro fertilization. Recipients of embryos donated for procreative implantation typically plan to transfer fresh or frozen embryos into a prepared uterus in order to facilitate pregnancy and childbirth. Recipients of embryos donated for research typically use them for clinical training, quality improvement research, or human embryonic stem cell research.

HOW IS EMBRYO DONATION PERFORMED?

Once the embryos from the donor couple have been fertilised, they are vitrified using a process of flash freezing in liquid nitrogen at -196°C, preserving their all their quality and properties. When a couple decide they do not wish to have any more children, they have the possibility of donating these embryos to another women who needs them. Embryo selection is carried out by taking into account the physical attributes of the couple or woman who donated the embryos, and the couple or woman who adopt the embryos.

However, it must be borne in mind that not all women who have frozen embryos can donate them. To be able to donate, the donor woman must be less than 35 years old when the fertilization was performed, and not have any risk of infectious or genetic diseases.

Once the embryos have been selected, the process of embryo donation begins, which follows the following steps:

  1. The endometrium of the recipient is prepared so that the uterus is in optimum conditions for implantation.
  2. Embryo thawing.
  3. Embryo transfer is performed, a simple procedure in which the embryos are placed directly into the uterus so that they can implant and develop correctly.
  4. Ten days later, the pregnancy test is done, to confirm if the implantation has been successful.
  5. Approximately two weeks later, the first ultrasound will be done to check on the progress of the pregnancy and its location.
  6. Once the patient has been discharged, they should continue to be monitored with the required pregnancy controls.

WHEN IS EMBRIODONATION RECOMMENDED?

Embryo donation can be a good option for those cases in which couples present with fertility problems, independently of whether it is due to the male or the female. It is also good for women who wish to become single mums by choice, or in same sex female relationships where there is a problem with fertility or their age is over 40.

It is a good alternative to double donation treatments, where both donor sperm and donor eggs are used. This is because not only is it a less expensive procedure, it also has a high success rate due to the fact that usually only the best quality embryos are frozen. Futhermore, it is important to remember that other embryos from the same cycle have given rise to the birth of a healthy baby, which is precisely why they are being donated.

 

For procreative implantation

Embryo donation for procreative implantation is a form of third party reproduction. Embryo donation can be anonymous (donor and recipient parties are not known to each other, and individuals have no ability to contact one another), semi-open (parties can interact via a third party, but do not share personally identifiable information in order to provide a layer of privacy protection), open (party identities and contact information are shared so the families can interact directly in various types of relationships), or ID disclosure (donor-conceived youth can request and receive donor contact information when the donor-conceived reaches the age of 18).[1] Any children born from embryo donation for procreation would be biologically related to the gamete donors used when creating the embryos. This is the same principle as is followed in egg donation or sperm donation.

 

Embryo donation or adoption

Some use the term “embryo donation” to refer strictly to anonymous embryo donation, and “embryo adoption” to refer to an open relationship. Others use the terms interchangeably because, regardless of the relationship, a clinical assisted reproduction procedure is involved, and the recipient couple is preparing to raise a child not genetically related to them. Lawyers who assist those trying to acquire an embryo state the term “embryo adoption” is a misnomer because the transfer of an embryo is handled as property transfer. One newspaper article in 2005 asserted that abortion rights advocates, advocates of embryonic stem cell research, and members of the fertility industry object to referring to the transfer as an “adoption” because they feel it gives an embryo the same status as a child.