Could embryo donation become common practice?

What do you do with extra embryos after IVF? One Oregon couple kept theirs in the freezer for 19 years, in case they wanted to expand their family. Eventually, they decided to give their four remaining embryos to Kelly Burke, 45, a single woman from Virginia. Two were thawed and transferred to Burke’s uterus, and she’s now a mom to smiley 9-month-old Liam James.

This story is remarkable on many levels. First, the embryo that became Liam is believed to be one of the oldest ever thawed after being frozen for so long. Second, it’s part of a growing trend of embryo donation that represents a promising solution to our national problem of hundreds of thousands of leftover IVF embryos languishing in storage.

Read the full, original story here: Get Used to Embryo Adoption

Related on the SLP

CRISPR opens window into early stages of human embryo development Will the public embrace CRISPR to ‘edit out’ birth defects as it has other reproductive technologies?

Viewpoint: 4 very real AI doomsday scenarios

After Idaho criminalized abortion providers in 2022, one-third of obstetricians fled. Health care advocates are making rural health the case for repealing the ban

Anti-GMO activists in Pakistan rev up their campaign of dire warnings

Additional Resources:

• “The problem with ’embryo adoption’,” NBC News
  Arthur Caplan discusses how a religious group’s use of the word “adoption” warps the discussion of IVF embryo donation.
  
• “Myths About Embryo Donation,” National Infertility Association
  Confusing language can muddle discussions of embryo donation. See a few common myths about embryo donation.