Embryo Adoption

According to Ellen Sarasohn Glazer and Susan Lewis Cooper, authors of Choosing Assisted Reproduction, embryo adoption is an option for:

• couples who have neither eggs nor sperm to contribute;
• single women who do not have a designated sperm donor and are unable to use their own eggs;
• couples in which one member is infertile and both choose to have the same (non)genetic connection to the child.

1. embryo donation, and
2. embryo creation.

Glazer and Cooper describe embryo donation as "the donation of an existing embryo" and embryo creation as "the intentional creation of a child through donated eggs and donated sperm." They write, "Although from a genetic and social standpoint offspring of created embryos are the same as the offspring of donated embryos, (they are not genetically related to either parent) the differences in their origins are substantial. In one instance the couple gestates and raises a child that began as an embryo intended for the genetic parents but now destined not to be born. In the second instance, couples are intentionally taking gametes from two separate donors and creating an embryo for the sole purpose of 'prebirth adoption.'" (Read more.)

More family-building alternatives.