Embryo Adoption Pros and Cons

There are pros and cons to embryo adoption, and there is no “right” answer for your path forward—only the answer that you and your family think is best.

In this article, you can learn both the pros and cons of embryo adoption so that you and your family can make the right decision for yourselves.

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Embryo Adoption Pros and Cons: Pros

Embryo adoption offers several benefits for families seeking to build their families, particularly those facing infertility or looking for alternative ways to experience parenthood. Here are some of the pros:

1. Path to Parenthood for Infertile Couples

Embryo adoption provides a way for infertile couples to experience pregnancy and childbirth if they do not have embryos or are unable to create embryos on their own. It’s also an alternative for couples who have struggled with IVF.

2. Pregnancy and Bonding Experience

You can experience a connection throughout pregnancy, fostering a deep emotional connection to the child.

3. Ethical Preferences for Unused Embryos

Some see embryo adoption as a chance to “rescue” unused embryos, offering them a life instead of being discarded. For many, this feels like a meaningful and ethical choice.

4. Faster Path to Parenthood

Embryo adoption can be quicker than traditional adoption or IVF, with less waiting time for a match and a more predictable timeline, since the embryos are already created.

5. Variety of Choices

There’s a large pool of embryos available, giving families a range of options based on genetic traits, medical history, or ethnicity, and the ability to match with embryos that meet their preferences.

6. Emotional Fulfillment

Embryo adoption allows parents to feel they’ve “created” their child through the process of pregnancy and childbirth, forming a strong emotional bond with the child, even though the child is genetically linked to another family.

Here are some other options to explore this topic more:

• Learn about embryo creation
• Learn about IVF and surrogacy with low-quality embryos
• Learn about surrogacy with few embryos
• Learn about adoption vs. surrogacy

Embryo Adoption Pros and Cons: Cons

Here are some potential cons of embryo adoption to consider:

1. Emotional Challenges

Some adoptive parents may struggle with not being biologically connected to the child. As the child grows, they may have questions about their genetic origins, creating emotional complexities for both parents and child.

2. Uncertainty and Costs

Embryo adoption may not result in pregnancy on the first try, and multiple transfers may be necessary, with no guarantee of success.

If a transfer fails, there may be significant financial and emotional costs. But some surrogacy agencies offer financial protection.

3. Limited Control Over Matching

Parents may have limited options when choosing embryos depending on what embryo agency they choose, and in some cases, little to no information about the genetic parents, especially in closed embryo adoptions.

4. Legal and Ethical Concerns

Legal procedures can be complex as embryo laws vary from state to state. In some places you may require legal processes after the birth of your child, and some families may have ethical reservations about the creation and donation of embryos, especially those conceived through IVF.

5. Emotional and Social Complications

Managing contact with genetic donors in open adoptions can lead to emotional confusion or tension, particularly as the child grows and begins asking questions about their origins, so it’s important to prepare up front for how you will handle contact with genetic relatives.

Do People Have Embryo Adoption Regrets?

Yes, it is possible to experience regret or complex feelings about embryo adoption. While regret is not common for families who pursue embryo adoption, it can happen for some, especially if they are not fully prepared for the emotional, ethical, or practical challenges that arise during the process.

It is important to have adequate counseling, clear expectations, and strong support networks in place to minimize the potential for regret.

Embryo Adoption and Surrogacy When You Have Few or No Embryos

One study found that embryo transfer to a surrogate resulted significantly higher rates of pregnancy and live birth for across the board compared to non-surrogates.

If you have embryos ready, you can get matched with a surrogate in as little as 1 - 6 months and have a higher chance of pregnancy, especially if you are struggling with uterine issues or medical conditions that make pregnancy more difficult to achieve. Get help from a surrogacy professional now.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the cons of embryo adoption?

Embryo adoption can be a complex process that involves emotional consideration for both the intended parents and any child that is born through embryo transfer.

What are the ethical issues with embryo adoption?

Some common ethical concerns are lack of connection to genetic relatives, and informed consent of donors. To navigate this, it is important to consider impacts of open vs. closed embryo donation, and make sure that you get embryos with informed consent of genetically related donors.

What happens when you adopt an embryo?

When you adopt an embryo, you will complete legal processes to show that the embryo is yours, and then the embryo can be transported to a fertility clinic and placed within the uterus.

Who is a good candidate for embryo adoption?

Embryo adoption can be good for many families, and families with these factors more often adopt embryos: couples with few or no good quality embryos, couples who are older, gay couples, and couples who don’t want to undergo embryo creation.