What Are Donor Embryos? A Beginner's Guide for Intended Parents
Starting or growing a family can take many different paths, and for some, that journey may include donor embryos. At Embryo Connections, we specialize in helping intended parents explore and succeed with this life-changing option. Donor embryos offer hope to those struggling to conceive. But what exactly are donor embryos, and how do they fit into the family-building process? This guide breaks it all down, giving you the essential information you need to understand this incredible option.
What Are Donor Embryos?
Donor embryos are created when individuals or couples who have used in vitro fertilization (IVF) to complete their family choose to donate their unused embryos to others struggling to grow their family. These embryos are the result of fertility treatments where more embryos are created than needed. Instead of discarding or preserving them indefinitely, donors opt to give others the chance to be parents.
At Embryo Connections, we aim to make this process easy, connecting donors with intended parents in a way that is compassionate, transparent, and tailored to both donor and intended parent needs. Using donor embryos allows Intended Parents the opportunity to experience pregnancy, have full genetic siblings on a preferred schedule, and be their child in every sense except genetics! It’s an act of profound generosity on the part of the donors, offering hope to people who might otherwise struggle to build the family they’ve dreamed of.
Did you know…?
An IVF procedure typically creates 4 - 6 embryos from a single egg retrieval cycle, and may be as many as 30 or more.
How Are Donor Embryos Created?
Donor embryos come from individuals or couples who have created embryos via IVF, and have completed their family. Individuals or couples can find themselves with extra embryos for a variety of reasons, for example:
Tubal Factor: Individuals with blocked or damaged fallopian tubes often need IVF (egg retrieval) for conception. If their ovarian reserve is strong, they may produce a significant number of embryos during treatment.
Male Factor: Male factor infertility sometimes needs to be addressed through ICSI, an IVF fertilization method, even with a fertile female partner.
Genetic condition avoidance: Some couples use IVF in order to screen their embryos for genetic conditions that they’d like to avoid passing to their offspring.
Donor egg: Women with Diminished Ovarian Reserve or egg quality factors often use donated eggs. As egg quality is generally high, the recipient has a higher likelihood of completing their family before they use all of their embryos..
Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS): Individuals with PCOS often produce a high number of eggs in a single ovarian stimulation, which can lead to more embryos than needed to complete one’s family.
Same sex couples or single parents: These families use donor gametes along with their own eggs/sperm, and often don’t have physiological “infertility” as we might think of it. They may have quite fertile gametes.
Unexplained Infertility: Couples with unexplained infertility may find that IVF corrects for their difficulties early in their journey.
In all these scenarios, early success in family-building can leave individuals or couples with extra embryos. These embryos can then become candidates for donation, offering a meaningful way to help others achieve their dreams of parenthood.
Who Should Consider Donated Embryos to Build Their Family?
Anyone who wants a child to love, is amenable to another’s genetics, and can carry a pregnancy or plans to use a gestational carrier.
Did You Know…?
The uterine cavity can carry pregnancies long after the ovaries have stopped releasing viable eggs!
Are Donor Embryos Right for You?
Using donor embryos offers Intended Parents an opportunity to take control of their parenthood journey - providing choice while reducing barriers to parenthood. A few reasons Intended Parents choose embryo donation:
Success Probability: Embryo donation starts at the blastocyst stage, so embryos are already created with grades and history, so that Intended Parents can know the likelihood of success with the embryos. IVF or Donor egg IVF starts at the egg, so there’s more risk because one doesn’t know how many eggs will result in embryos. Donor embryos can increase one’s likelihood of pregnancy and live birth dramatically.
Equal parenting: In relationships where one partner is infertile, embryo donation equalizes the parent child relationship, as neither parent is a genetic contributor.
Cost-Effective Option: Compared to other forms of assisted reproduction, donor embryos are generally more affordable since the embryos are already created.
Bonding Alternative to Traditional Adoption: Using donor embryos allows an Intended Parent to carry the pregnancy, creating a natural bond from conception, and establishing an epi-genetic tie. It importantly also increases choice and reduces cost, time, and risk (legal agreement establishes parenthood prior to pregnancy).
Embryo creation avoidance: Some Intended Parents not using their own gametes would prefer not to create more embryos when so many exist.
Did You Know…?
You don’t need to share genetics or blood type with your embryo for a healthy pregnancy!
Why Consider Receiving Donor Embryos via Embryo Connections?
At Embryo Connections, the journey is inclusive and supportive for both donors and Intended Parents. We believe in inclusion, informed choice, and making the journey as easy as possible for all involved. And we vet all embryos so that Intended Parents have a high likelihood for success.
High Success Rates: Embryo Connections goes a step beyond, vetting all embryos, seeking to only donate embryos with a high chance of success, which is why EC’s live birth rate of 50% far exceeds the national average.
Batch of embryos: You’ll be able to choose donors with 2 - 5 embryos to allow for genetic siblings and/or multiple attempts to complete your family.
Donor Selection: Donors and intended parents are empowered with choice. Donor embryo profies include an EMBRYO profile and accompanied by detailed donor profiles, including personal background information, genetic and extended family medical history. As an intended parent working with Embryo Connections, you have the freedom to choose donor family characteristics, values, geography, or whatever is important to you.
Interaction: You also have the freedom to choose the type of interaction that feels best for you whether it's high or low engagement open, semi-open, or ID disclosure at 18.
Concierge Journey: Embryo Connections makes the journey easy - from finding your match to completing clinical and regulatory requirements to legal agreement and delivering the embryos to your clinic. We’re here with a dedicated Client Services Coordinator and a team of fertility nurses to support you.
Stay with Your REI: Embryos are approved by your REI and delivered to YOUR clinic so that you can do the transfer with a practice you trust.
Short Wait Times: Embryo Connections is proud to offer a quicker matching process compared to many other family-building options. Intended Parents generally match within 3 - 5 months, with many matching in weeks.
Cost-Efficiency: Embryo Connections is one of the lowest cost options for donor embryos.
Challenges and Considerations
Every option has its challenges, and using donor embryos is no exception. Here are some factors intended parents should carefully consider:
Grieving One’s Own Genetics: Accepting that your child won’t share genetics with you or your partner can sometimes be difficult. Embryo Connections will refer you to experienced reproductive counselors who will tailor a psychoeducational session to your needs..
Legal Considerations: Embryo Connections guides donors and intended parents through the process to ensure that they’ve thought through ideas and been represented by legal counsel to support them.
Criteria vs. Time to Parenthood: Certain criteria may be harder to find, so finding an ideal donor may take time.
Potential Medical History Unknowns: While donor profiles include extensive medical information, it’s possible not every detail of the donor family’s medical history will be available. Embryo connections conducts a comprehensive clinical records review and Donor FDA screening to help mitigate concerns.
Did You Know…?
The embryo donation legal agreement transfers ALL parental rights and responsibilities from the Donor to the Recipient/Intended Parent for any child born of the donated embryos.
Final Thoughts
Donor embryos create a unique opportunity to grow your family while experiencing the joy of pregnancy and parenthood. At Embryo Connections, we’re here to support you every step of the way, making the process as smooth and meaningful as possible.
If you’re ready to explore donor embryos, we’re ready to help you become a parent. To get started, SCHEDULE A FREE INTRODUCTORY CONSULT VIA ZOOM here. We look forward to meeting you!