Embryo adoption is a new ray of hope for many couples who want to have a child. But how much does embryo adoption cost? What is the process, and is it the right choice for you and your family? We tackle some of these questions here.
According to recent CDC data, 40% of ART live-birth deliveries were through embryo adoptions. In comparison with other methods of adoption, embryo adoption is a much cheaper option.
Depending upon your circumstances and the adoption agency you choose to work with, embryo adoption can cost anywhere from $10-15,000.
What is Embryo Adoption?
Embryo adoption is the process of adoptive parents experiencing pregnancy and childbirth through embryos they adopted from an egg donor couple.
An embryo is made using the eggs and sperm of the donor couple. A couple going through IVF saves multiple of their embryos, and once their IVF treatment is complete and some of these embryos are leftover, they choose to donate them to an adoptive parent.
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What Is The Cost of Embryo Adoption?
The total cost of embryo adoption depends on the adoptive family’s circumstances and the embryo adoption agency they have chosen to work with.
The average cost of embryo adoption lies between $10,000 to $15000, which involves all the expenses related to the adoption, which include:
- Embryo shipping
- Agency fees
- Matching services
- Legal fees
- Counseling
- Frozen embryo transfer
- Medical screening
- Home study fees
Embryo adoption generally costs less than other forms of adoption because the adoptive parent doesn’t have to pay for the birth parent’s travel and living expenses.
However, if there is a requirement for multiple treatments, the costs can get significantly higher. Embryo adoption agencies will better help determine the cost depending upon your circumstances.
Why You Should Consider Embryo Adoption Instead of Adopting a Baby?
- It allows an adoptive parent to experience pregnancy and childbirth.
- Adoptive parents are assured that their child receives the best prenatal care.
- There is no risk of a birth mother changing her mind at the last moment, like in the case of infant adoption.
- It costs way less than other adoption forms like IVF or infant adoption.
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Why Embryo Adoption May Not Be Such a Good Idea?
- Embryo adoption has just a 40% success rate.
- Adoptive parents may have to undergo embryo adoption again, which can increase the cost of the adoption process.
- Undergoing pregnancy is hard for a mother. There are bodily changes, hormonal changes, the woman has to take leave from work, and her career may suffer.
How Does Embryo Adoption Work?
In embryo adoption, the donor parent transfers their parental rights to the frozen embryo to an adoptive parent. The adoptive parent uses IVF technology to get pregnant with the donated frozen embryos. The adoptive parents get parental rights on the child even before they give birth to their adopted child.
Here are some resources for prospective parents seeking embryo adoption
Before choosing embryo adoption to complete your family, it is essential to have all the information about the program. It is crucial that you do complete research and determines whether the program suits you as per your expectations and values. Below are the links to a few organizations where you can start your embryo adoption journey.
How to Adopt an Embryo: The Complete Process
The process of embryo adoption can vary depending on the adoption agency, but in general, the adoption process involves the following steps:
Embryo Donation:
Embryo donation occurs when a parent chooses to donate unused leftover embryos after completing their family through IVF. The donor parents then either select an adoption agency to find an adoptive parent or donate to a parent they already know. Sometimes donor parents also make the donations anonymously and have no contact with the adoptive parents.
Selection Of An Agency:
One of the most important steps for an adoptive family is to select an adoption agency to work with. The adoption agency is responsible for facilitating the match between a donor and an adoptive family. The agency also handles all the medical and legal services.
Adoption Home Study:
Like every other adoption, an adoption home study is required in embryo adoption to determine whether the adoptive family is ready for adoption or not.
Donor And Adoptive family Match:
Both donor and adoptive parents provide their personal information, like medical history, and specify their preferences for getting matched to families. People consider age, income, race, religion, future contact with the child, and any existing children. Once it’s done, donor and adoptive parents will both be shown profiles that match their requirements to choose from.
Legal Paperwork:
Once the two families match, the donor family will transfer the embryo to the adopting family through legal paperwork. The donor family will give up all their rights to the embryo, and the adoptive parents will get rights to the embryo and the child after its birth.
Embryo Transfer:
After the paperwork is done, the medical procedure of transferring the embryo to the adoptive mother starts.
For the entire process of embryo adoption to complete, it can take anywhere from a year to more, depending upon the agency you chose to work with and their preferences in donor parents.
You might also like to read: Can An Adoptive Child Inherit From Biological Parents?
Embryo Adoption vs. Infant Adoption
Some steps are common to embryo and infant adoption, like the matching process and the adoption home study. The main difference between embryo and infant adoption is that the adoptive parent gets to experience the pregnancy themselves. In embryo adoption, they get the parental rights to the embryo even before the pregnancy.
On the other hand, in the infant adoption, they have to rely on the birth mother to give birth to their child and surrender her rights to the child.
IVF vs. Embryo Adoption
The main difference between IVF and embryo adoption is that IVF allows parents to have a biological child. In contrast, through adoption, they get legal parental rights to a child who is not biologically theirs.
There are no criteria to judge which one is better for you. For some people, it is important to have a child who has their same blood, while others just want a child to complete their family.
Frequently Asked Questions (3-4 only)
Is adoption cheaper than IVF?
No, adoption is not cheaper than IVF. A single IVF treatment cycle will cost around $12,000, and parents need to go through multiple cycles for a successful pregnancy. The total cost of adoption can go as high as $60-70,000, sometimes even more.
How long does it take to adopt an embryo?
It can take anywhere from a year to more to adopt an embryo, depending upon your requirement for donor parents and the adoption agency you choose to work with.
Can you buy an embryo?
You can not buy an embryo. Donor parents donate the embryo to the adoptive parents as the embryo is not useful to them.
Wrap Up
Embryo adoption is a low-cost option since the donor family bears the cost of freezing the embryos, which reduces the cost of adoption for the adoptive parents.
For adoptive parents wishing to experience pregnancy and childbirth, embryo adoption is the way.Thank you for reading the article. We hope that we were able to answer your queries.