Embryo Donation

Embryo donation, also at times called embryo adoption, entails the transfer of eggs previously fertilized by one woman's partner (or sperm donor of her choice) into the uterus of another infertile woman. From a technical point of view embryo donation is analogous to egg donation except that the donation takes place after fertilization has occurred. From a genetic point of view embryo donation is analogous to adoption inasmuch neither Intended Parent provides the gametes (egg and sperm); thus the child has no genetic link to the Intended Parents. Whereas in theory both fresh and frozen embryos can be donated, in practice, most donated embryos have been frozen (What is Embryo Freezing?).

It is unknown how many embryo donation transfers are done each year in the United States. The annual national SART reports which go back to 1987 and the clinic-specific reports which go back to 1989 do not designate embryo donation as a separate ART procedure. Thus embryo donation is subsumed within the much larger category of frozen embryo transfers. The exact success rate of embryo donation is also unknown but is likely to be comparable to the live birth rate per frozen transfer which in 2006 was about 26% nationally. Historically, embryo donation is a by-product of embryo freezing technology which in turn was necessitated by the widespread use of vigorous ovarian stimulation with production of multiple eggs and embryos.

One of the common misconceptions is that thousands of frozen embryos have been donated and are available in ART clinics throughout the world. In our experience only a relatively small percentage of frozen embryos are donated for replacement into infertile recipients. In a pioneering study we conducted a few years back, we found that the disposition of the "spare embryos", which were not used by the original patients, was very different depending on the source of the eggs. Following IVF with the woman's own eggs, the spare embryos were four times more likely to be destroyed than donated. After treatment with donor eggs, on the other hand, spare embryos were much more likely to be donated than destroyed (Dr. Chetkowski’s CV, Publications #22 and 26).

Embryo donation is seldom the infertility procedure of first choice. It is rare that a couple would turn to embryo donation as their preferred method of establishing a family. Embryo donation makes most intuitive sense for single women who require the use of both donor eggs and donor sperm (Single Parents). Couples who undergone multiple failed infertility therapies with their own gametes may wish to try embryo donation before moving on to adoption. Since most of the work and expense involved in assisted fertilization has already been incurred, donated embryos are also relatively less expensive than other ARTs. From a technical point of view embryo donation is no different from other frozen embryo transfers (Frozen Embryo Transfer).