Embryo donation and adoption
When a couple undergoes In Vitro Fertilization treatment, a number of embryos are generated, and sometimes all of them are not used, leaving some others left.
These embryos can be donated to embryo banks, where they are stored and frozen for their correct preservation and so that at some point couples or women who do not have the possibility of conceiving pregnancies can use them and in this way they can have children.
Couples undergo embryo adoption treatment, in which they are transferred to the recipient woman in whom the pregnancy will take place.
What is embryo donation?
Embryo donation is a process that consists of carrying out a reproduction technique, which is assisted and is based on the transfer of these to the uterus of the woman who receives them. Being a single embryo per couple or several.
It's a increasingly used reproduction treatment by couples, characterized by being a procedure classified as generous by offering the possibility of life to embryos whose destiny has been paralyzed by biological donors.
It is a recommended technique in the event that both members of the couple do not have the capacity to become parents with their sperm and eggs. Besides, It is very simple and does not have a high cost unlike other assisted reproduction treatments.
Embryo donation is usually carried out by couples who have already undergone In Vitro Fertilization treatments and who no longer wish to have more children, so they make the donation officially to other couples with problems conceiving.
When a couple decides to give up the embryos, they have different options to make a decision regarding their future, such as preserving them for future treatments, destroying them and donating them for scientific studies or for couples who cannot have children.
What is embryo adoption?
Embryo adoption is a procedure that is based on the conception of a pregnancy with embryos that have been donated by other couples. When a woman undergoes In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) treatment, more fertilized eggs of those in need for treatment, which are subsequently not usually implemented.
In this way, the law determines that unused embryos have a destination, being stored and frozen properly. These fertilized eggs have a series of options, such as implantation in the same woman, in case she wants to get pregnant again, donating them for other patients, donating them for research or destroying them.
If the woman decides to donate them for the use of other couples, they will benefit, since they are couples with reproductive problems. In this case, the specialist doctors in charge look for donors who are anonymous and who have physical features similar to the future recipients.
This is a process carried out in order to collaborate with those couples who cannot conceive and give the possibility of gestating the donated embryos and thus being able to develop as a member of a family.
The eggs that are fertilized come from parents whose health is good, generally they are people under 35 and 40 years of age, and they have already successfully carried out a IVF treatment and they do not want to conceive more children.
Phases of embryo adoption treatment
- Embryo selection phase:
Previously, one or two embryos are selected that have been frozen and stored in an embryo bank. This phase is based on a careful study of the traits of both the embryos and the parents who receive them, such as phenotype, Rh and blood group, carried out in order to achieve correct genetic compatibility.
It is not a process that requires an entry on a waiting list, so it is a very simple and fast process.
- Endometrial preparation phase:
The patient must follow a treatment to prepare the endometrium, in order to receive the fertilized eggs.
At the time of menstruation, the woman usually begins with estrogen treatment, whose doses can be increasing, which is done in order to achieve a correct thickness of the endometrium, this will be evaluated through a vaginal ultrasound.
- Thawing of embryos:
The embryo thawing phase is a procedure that is based on the change in their temperature, which is -196 °C to the body temperature of the recipient, which is 37 °C.
As part of the incubation process of the embryos, they are stored in a group of specific media, so the substances with which they are stored are replaced by aqueous media, thus achieving that the cells are rehydrated and all of them can be reactivated. the biological functions of the fertilized egg.
- Embryo transfer:
After thawing the embryo, it is transferred on the same day, but a few hours apart, in order to verify that it has been able to survive the entire procedure carried out.
According to Spanish law, for each cycle no more than three embryos can be transferred. The decision on the appropriate number of embryos to be transferred will be made by the team of doctors specialized in the area.
The gynecologist is in charge of the process, to carry it out he will use a small catheter to direct the embryos through the cervix and be able to deposit them in it. It is a procedure that lasts a few minutes and the recovery time after executing this procedure is minimal.
- Pregnancy test:
Generally, embryo freezing is done on the fifth day of embryonic development, for this reason, pregnancy test It must be done 10 days after the embryo transfer has been carried out.
Who undergoes the embryo adoption process?
Embryo adoption treatment can be carried out by people who have the following aspects:
- Couples with combined problems: women who do not have the possibility of having their own eggs available, combining with a male factor.
- Couples with immunology problems related to incompatibility.
- Couples who have not been able to achieve a pregnancy after having carried out a series of In Vitro Fertilization cycles.
- Couples who suffer from frequent implantation failures or repeated abortions.
- Single women who do not use their eggs and who resort to this technique for simplicity and not a double donation of gametes.
- Couples of women who are not going to use their eggs and decide directly to go to the technique of receiving embryos.
Difference between embryo donation and adoption
The difference presented between embryo donation and adoption from a medical perspective is an equal procedure, establishing a clearly and solely legal difference.
This is based on the fact that the donation consists of the fact that couples who have undergone assisted reproduction treatments such as In Vitro Fertilization have produced more embryos than necessary and there have been a few left over.
The couple decides to donate them so that other couples who have problems conceiving pregnancies can use them and thus give the egg that is already fertilized a chance at life.
While adoption is a procedure that consists of the implantation of embryos that do not have a destination and that have become the responsibility of the reproduction clinic and it is the one who donates them to the receiving women or couples. In both cases, the embryos are always stored and frozen in embryo banks; this process is carried out on women who wish to conceive a pregnancy. It is a simple and quick treatment to carry out.
Success of embryo adoption treatment
The success rate achieved by the adoption treatment of embryos that have been donated by other people depends largely on the quality possessed by them, so the traits of the woman who receives the embryo are not fundamental, but they influence a smaller proportion.
The process of thawing the fertilized eggs has a very good survival rate, because the verification enables a total recovery of the embryos in a total of 90% of all cases.
However, it is of interest to know that some donated embryos used in this type of treatment may originate from people with fertility problems who have had to resort to reproduction techniques, which makes the probability of conceiving a pregnancy not as high. elevated depending on the problem they had. In any case, the medical team will always take these situations into account.
It should also be kept in mind that the probability of pregnancy may be increased due to the possibility that the eggs that are adopted come from couples who have used donor eggs to carry out their IVF treatment, this is because the quality of the embryos will be larger.
It may interest you:
- How to decide between insemination or in vitro fertilization?
- What are the differences between insemination and in vitro fertilization?
