What is embryo donation?

Families with embryos in storage from IVF after their journey is complete can donate these surplus embryos to Intended Parents who need them to complete their family. A beautiful gift from one family to another who wants to love a child.

At Embryo Connections, we believe everyone navigating this decision, as a potential donor or recipient, deserves clear information, genuine support, and the freedom to choose what's right for them.

How are there embryos to donate?

In the process of in-vitro fertilization, a patient creates several embryos (egg fertilized with sperm), which are cryo-preserved for multiple attempts and/or siblings.  It often takes more than one transfer to result in live birth, and success rates can be very different across patients. Some families use all of their embryos, while some have remaining embryos in storage.  These are potential siblings of their children that they worked very hard to create, so they’re pretty special!!

Medical experts estimate that roughly 1.5 million embryos are currently frozen in the United States [Source: CBS News, 2025;University of Florida Journal of Law & Public Policy, 2024;]. Over 900,000 embryos are “inactive,” not scheduled to be implanted in a year.  Many families keep their embryos frozen because they don’t know their options, they aren’t comfortable with the options presented, or they’re too busy with their families to take the necessary steps to act on the option that feels best. Those with precious embryos in storage are faced a deeply personal question and may still be searching for an answer they feel at peace with.

That's the heart of why embryo donation exists, and why thoughtful, supportive guidance matters so much.

What’s the difference between “embryo donation” and “embryo adoption”?

Different organizations use different words… is there really a difference between embryo donation and embryo adoption??

The intent is the same… Both program types facilitate the transfer of embryos from one family to another, allowing individuals or couples to build their families using donated embryos.

For organizations who refer to “embryo donation”, the term encompasses both donating and receiving donated embryos, such that a donor “donates” and an Intended Parent “receives” donated embryos. The use of this terminology emphasizes the altruistic nature of the act, where the donors are giving the embryos without any expectation of financial compensation or and relinquishes all parental rights and responsibilities via a legal agreement to the intended parent, similar to egg or sperm donation.

“Embryo adoption” generally frames the process in the language of traditional child adoption. Programs built around the "adoption" model may include adoption-style steps, such as a home study.

The Embryo Connections approach: We use the language of donation because it reflects how we work. We're inclusive of race, religion, sexual orientation, lifestyle, and family structure, and we believe the opportunity to build a family belongs to everyone. Just as importantly, we put you in control: you set your own criteria (characteristics, values, whatever is important to you!) and the level of contact you're comfortable with, and we believe in informed choice. As a donor or intended parent, you choose your own match. Embryo Connections wants you to find a family match with whom you feel comfortable.

How Embryo Donation (& Embryo Adoption) Works

Every journey is a little different, but the path generally follows these steps:

1. Learn. You’ll start by meeting with an experienced Embryo Connections Client Services Manager, to learn your interests and needs, to outline the journey, and to answer any burning questions you have! We know that embryo donation can bring up questions and/or emotions that surprise even confident decision-makers, and we’re here to support your path. As part of your preparation, we’ll refer donors and recipients to a psychoeducaional session with trained reproductive counselors to think through short and long term considerations.

2. Prepare. You’ll complete your profile and other on-boarding steps to be ready to match. This step can go as quickly as you’d like - we can move as fast! Take a peek at the Intended Parent and Donor Journeys to learn your specific steps.

3. Match. EC leads “assisted mutual matching” to ensure that donors and intended parents are matched based on what matters to you: characteristics/values/interests, and the level of future contact each side hopes for. At Embryo Connections, both donors and intended parents are empowered with informed choice, and we only send match profiles right for both families.

4. Clinic approval. EC Fertility Nurses send an Embryo Suitability & Eligibility Packet(TM) with the recipient’s preferred clinic to achieve physician, embryologist, and donor nurse approval of the donation.

5. Legal agreement. A specialized reproductive attorney prepares an agreement tailored to your interests and the laws of each party’s state of residence. This protects everyone and clarifies rights and expectations before moving forward.

6. Shipping coordination and transfer. Embryos are safely transported to the recipient's preferred fertility clinic, and then your physician implants an embryo in a procedure called a frozen embryo transfer (FET),.

…Ongoing family building. Recipients own the embryos to complete transfers on your own family building schedule.

We walk through each of these in detail on our How It Works for Intended Parents and How It Works for Donors pages.

You Don't Have to Navigate This Alone

Embryo donation involves clinical, legal, emotional, and logistical pieces that can feel overwhelming to coordinate on your own: evaluating embryos, completing donor screening, matching thoughtfully, drafting legal agreements, and arranging safe embryo transport across clinics.

This is exactly what Embryo Connections was built to handle. We guide donors and intended parents through every step, coordinating the clinical, regulatory, legal, logistical, and most importantly the “I don’t know anyone whose done this before so I don’t know what to ask” details so you can focus on what actually matters: your family.

A few things that set us apart:

• Inclusive by design. We welcome all family types, and we believe that there is a great match for everyone.

• You’re in control. Donors and Intended Parents define criteria and preferred level of contact, and choose their own match.

• Support for the whole person. Counseling and guidance are built in for donors and recipients alike.

• Coordinated, all-inclusive care. From matching to legal to safe embryo transport, we manage the moving parts and keep costs transparent.

• Success. Embryo Connections is uniquely staffed with an experienced clinical team to vet donations for likelihood of success and review embryology/future health risks for each inteded parent match so that recipients and receiving clinics can feel confident in our high success rates (comparable to egg donor, 6 points above the national average for embryo donation transfers!)

FAQ

How many embryos are donated to each family? Embryo Connections donates in cohorts of typically 2 - 5 embryos so that recipients can have multiple transfer attempts and/or genetic siblings. Cohorts are approved by embryo donors before matching begins.

Let’s Get Started!

Schedule a consultation…