Program allows families to adopt frozen embryos

March 31, 10:40 PMMinneapolis Adoptive Families ExaminerJill Oliveira

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For many couples who eventually turn to adoption, the process of trying to create a family begins years earlier, with months of trying “the old fashioned way.”  When that fails, a series of increasingly invasive procedures follows, oftentimes including in-vitro fertilization.    But that doesn't always work either.  Now, there's another option:  adopting someone else's frozen embryo.

When a couple becomes pregnant through in-vitro fertilization, they are sometimes left with fertilized eggs they no longer want.  In fact, there are nearly a half-million such embryos being kept in cryo-banks nationwide right now.  An organization called Nightlight Christian Adoptions offers a pioneering frozen embryo adoption program which matches would-be adoptive parents with unwanted frozen embryos.

In many ways, the steps involved in adopting frozen embryos mirror a traditional adoption, including a lengthy application and a home study.  Usually, the embryos are shipped about nine months after the process begins.

Amy and Keith Fisher adopted frozen embryos in 2002.  In an interview with KPHO-TV in Phoenix, Amy said they've already talked with their daughter about how she came to be a part of their family.

 “We tell her that Mommy and Daddy didn't have seeds to start a baby, and you need seeds, so we found a family who gave us extra seeds," Amy Fisher said.

Couples who adopt embryos versus obtaining them through donation have the opportunity to arrange an open adoption relationship with the genetic family.  According to nightlight.org, the Nightlight Christian Adoptions website, the nature of that relationship is negotiated on a case-by-case basis.

According to the website, “Whether they exchange pictures and letters, have telephone conversations, or choose to meet in person, the adopting family will know that they have access to information about their child's history, as well as a possible match for a medical need down the road, such as an organ donor, blood or bone marrow.”

Nightlight Christian Adoptions limits embryo adoptions to couples who have been married at least two-and-a-half years, and who will commit to providing the child with a spiritual home environment.  The program costs range from $11 thousand to $18 thousand, depending on home study and embryo transfer costs.

The first embryo adoptions took place more than a decade ago, but most states remain without specific laws pertaining to embryonic adoption.  Oftentimes the issue falls under property laws.