Embryo Adoption

Embryo adoption is on the rise as a viable option for couples, families and singles to either become parents or grow their current family. Embryo adoption is a form of Assisted Reproductive Technology, ARTs for short, which provides couples or individual, who are unable to conceive a child, an alternative to traditional adoption. The end result is the same as traditional adoption, the couple or individual goes home with a child who is not genetically related to either parent, but the path to get there is vastly different.

Embryo adoption is on the rise as a viable option for couples, families and singles to either become parents or grow their current family. Embryo adoption is a form of Assisted Reproductive Technology, ARTs for short, which provides couples or individual, who are unable to conceive a child, an alternative to traditional adoption. The end result is the same as traditional adoption, the couple or individual goes home with a child who is not genetically related to either parent, but the path to get there is vastly different.

Embryo Adoption provides the “Intended Parents”, who are unable to naturally or medically conceive, the opportunity to give birth to a child. The embryos which adopting couples would “adopt” are a product of the medical uncertainty of In vitro fertilization (IVF). As a safety net for people who undergo IVF, more embryos are created than are necessarily needed because they may have to undergo multiple IVF procedures. Once they give birth to their desired number of children through IVF they are typically left with remaining embryos. Those remaining embryos are typically cryogenically frozen until the genetic parents make a decision what they would like to do with the remaining embryos. It is difficult to estimate how many of these embryos are out there, but some sources estimate there to upwards of 600,000 in storage in the United States.

Indiana State law currently does not address legality of contracts relating to embryo adoption (on a side note Indiana Law does state that surrogacy contracts are void as against public policy). Stay tuned for more information on Embryo Adoption as it evolves and becomes more of a common practice.