Adoption Uncovered

New Kinds of Family Bonds

Embryo adoption is already bending the way we see family and siblings. There are stories hitting papers about families forming a special bond because their children are all biological siblings even though their parents are unrelated. (1) A generous donor offered the embryos they chose not to use after IVF to another family, or two or possibly more. This allowed those other families to give birth to full siblings of the donor family’s children. (2)  Yet, these children will only know each other if their parents choose this bond for them. Families who adopt embryos are under a variety of restrictions based on the preferences of the donor family. Sometimes anonymity is a condition. Sometimes donor families require all viable embryos be used. (3) Sometimes a full on connection is formed. The new territory people are venturing into within embryo adoption looks as scattered as the families who use IVF.

A Previous Generation of Adoptees Speaks Out

Traditional adoptees the world over have reached adulthood and realized that the bond they seek with their biological family is something that is important to their identity. Since adoption laws are patchworked together for the most part to put out individual fires that erupt for political constituents, some adoptees are growing up to find that their desires were completely left out of the equation. Original birth certificates are blocked from view. (4) Many adoptees have no access to medical history or ethnic history. New frontiers of DNA testing have been a wonderful tool for a lot of adoptees, but nothing would have compared to a legal system that would have considered their needs to begin with. (5)

Bit by bit, adoptees are fighting for their rights to know who birthed them. The importance of this knowledge to their complete emotional and medical view of themselves is starting to be recognized and respected, but it has been slow and painful for many.(6) Now a new type of adoptee is beginning to grow up in our society. It seems at the outset that the same random patchwork of legal territory is affecting the knowledge families of adopted embryos have. The fact that currently the adoption of embryos is considered a transfer of property doesn’t help the transparency of information from one family to another. (7)

What Does Embryo Adoption Look Like?

Christian families with a bias toward seeing conception as the beginning of life have constituted the vast majority of those who have pushed embryo adoption forward. (8) Since they see embryos as having personhood, many of the organizations that offer embryo adoption require families wishing to adopt to jump through many of the hoops that families would need to in a typical child adoption. There are meetings, home studies, family profiles, and agreements to opened or closed relationships with the donor family. (9) While these practices seem to be a good framework to attempt to match families, they are currently just a suggestion. Along with this framework many agencies prefer to work with those families who have similar religious and cultural values. (10)

Embryo adoption is not yet a level playing field for all families who could benefit. It is also not yet prepared to safeguard the rights of the people created from it. As adoptees from traditional adoption fight to have their records revealed to them, some of these rulings and practices may be instituted in embryo adoption because the people involved realize it is best and healthiest for those involved, but the requirements of law are largely absent.  (11)

Laws and Definitions Around Embryo Adoption Aren’t Clear.

The resolution to this is not simply graduating embryo adoption from its current status as a property transfer to full adoption because there is no widespread agreement as to what an embryo is under the law. That does not appear to be close to a resolution that could make all parties involved in working with embryos happy. (12)_ Add to this the new territory we are in when it comes to abortion rights. As laws are intruding further into the womb some are wondering if IVF and the embryos produced by it may be in jeopardy. (13)  Those who are against abortion may also have their eyes set on reducing or eliminating the embryos that are formed in excess of their use. 

The Path Forward for Embryo Adoptees is Uncertain.

Whether those created by embryo adoption will find themself in a welcoming new form of extended family, or in a black box similar to those who were adopted in the Baby Scoop Era currently is still subject to chance. (14)  Will we learn from adult adoptees and make sure these new kinds of adoptees have access to the information they need to complete their understanding of themselves? It is currently too early to tell.

Sources

1. Teotonio, Isabel. “These kids are genetic siblings and each was born to a different mother.” Thestar.com, 13 May 2017, http://www.thestar.com/life/these-kids-are-genetic-siblings-and-each-was-born-to-a-different-mother/article_01e1ec9f-c885-578a-ad43-09a25f442476.html.
2. Chorney, Saryn. “I Put My Unused Embryos from IVF Up for Adoption on Facebook — and It Turned Out Better Than I Imagined.” People.com, 18 Nov. 2021, people.com/human-interest/what-its-like-to-put-an-unused-ivf-embryo-for-adoption/.
3. Brown, Jennifer. “1,000 babies born through Colorado agency offering “adoption” of frozen embryos.” Coloradosun.com, 28 Mar. 2023, coloradosun.com/2023/03/28/embryo-adoption-loveland-colorado-snowflake/.
4. Gass-Poore, Jordan. “Most American Adoptees Can’t Access Their Birth Certificates. That Could Soon Change.” Motherjones.com, 13 Mar. 2019, http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2019/03/most-american-adoptees-cant-access-their-birth-certificates-that-could-be-about-to-change/#:~:text=All%20over%20the%20country%2C%20there,the%20adoptee’s%20.
5. Adams, Beth. “After decades-long fight for access to birth certificates, NY adoptees say it’s a monumental day.” wxxinews.org, 15 Jan. 2020, http://www.wxxinews.org/local-news/2020-01-15/after-decades-long-fight-for-access-to-birth-certificates-ny-adoptees-say-its-a-monumental-day.
6. “Children can benefit when adoptive, biological parents share adoption stories.” sciencedaily.com, 10 Aug. 2016, http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/08/160810180904.htm .
7. “Five Things to Know About Embryo Adoption.” JDSupra.com, 7 May 2022, http://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/five-things-to-know-about-embryo-8372794/ .
8. Buckwalter-Poza, Rebecca. “THE FROZEN CHILDREN: THE RISE—AND COMPLICATIONS—OF EMBRYO ADOPTION IN THE U.S.” psmag.com, 3 May 2017, psmag.com/news/frozen-children-rise-complications-embryo-adoption-u-s-80754.
9. Cornell, Julie. “Frozen embryo adoption helps Omaha couple become parents.” KETV.com, 7 May 2023, http://www.ketv.com/article/frozen-embryo-adoption-helps-omaha-couple-become-parents/43818690.
10. Taylor-Coleman, Jasmine. “The Americans who ‘adopt’ other people’s embryos.” bbc.com, 18 July 2016, http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-36450328.
11. Moore, Karin A. “Embryo Adoption: The Legal and Moral Challenges .” ir.stthomas.edu, Jan. 2007, ir.stthomas.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1013&context=ustjlpp.
12. Rogers, Melissa. “Moral Status of the Human Embryo.” pewresearch.com, 27 Feb. 2002, http://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2002/02/27/moral-status-of-the-human-embryo/.
13. Kindelan, Katie. “Overturning Roe v. Wade raises stakes for patients who need IVF, experts say.” goomorningamerica.com, 27 June 2022, http://www.goodmorningamerica.com/wellness/story/overturning-roe-wade-raises-stakes-patients-ivf-experts-84953101.
14. Chorney, Saryn. “I Put My Unused Embryos from IVF Up for Adoption on Facebook — and It Turned Out Better Than I Imagined.” People.com, 18 Nov. 2021, people.com/human-interest/what-its-like-to-put-an-unused-ivf-embryo-for-adoption/.