Donating to couples or study?
How do you donate embryos? I have decided not to freeze and I haven't decided if I want to donate them to couples or for Scientific study. How soon after they are formed into embryos should I have to decide what has to be done with them. Any clinic or agency that needs to be contacted prior ! Because I don't want to spend anything to freeze them.
I can tell you there are so many couples out there that would love to have donated embryos.....Yes we are looking as well, but there are many.
I am not sure about the freezing part. I think that you would have 5 days from the time the embryos were developed, and then a couple you would donate to would have to be implanted the same time as you. Depending on how many embryos you produce.
Just a thought you could always ask the couple to pay for the freezing fees, if there is any? SOmetimes the freezing is part of the package for a year. ALso not sure of your history, but what if these embryos you were implanted with didn't make a baby, you may want to do a frozen cycle transfer yourself?
Putting the message out on this board is a good idea for information. I wish you luck!
Generally the first year of freezing is included already in all the prices you pay pretty much anywhere. You should check with your RE to find out for sure.
BTW, when you donate your embryos through a place like the NEDC - the adoptive parents can reimburse the storage costs for the frozen storage. They also can reimburse you for the fees to mail/ship the embryos to the NEDC, and for any tests you have to do (there's a few blood tests they run, required by law). So that it wouldn't cost you anything to donate to adoptive parents.
And there are so many couples who really want to be parents.
Right now, I don't think you can legally donate them to scientific research, nor is anyone asking for them for scientific research. You may want to find out more about that.
Short answer: You need to decide whether to freeze or destroy the embryos by your transfer date. If you decide not to freeze, they will be destroyed, and you will not have an option to donate to research or donor embryo. The only way you will have those options is if you freeze.
Also - do note that if you don't get pregnant from your IVF and you didn't freeze "leftover" embryos, then you will have to do all the expense of the whole IVF cycle over again to try again. If you did freeze, the next cycle using those embryos in a frozen embryo transfer (FET) will be significantly cheaper and easier on your body. Unfortunately you can't make the assumption that it will take only one IVF cycle for you to become pregnant.
Longer answer: The embryologist fertilizes the eggs with the sperm immediately after your retrieval. Those that grow on the 2nd day are called 2pn. At that point, you have a decision whether to continue growing them all or whether to freeze some at this early stage.
So - you have two opportunities to decide about freezing - one the day after your retrieval and the other on day 5. If you don't freeze them, they will be destroyed naturally, as their growth beyond five days can't continue without being in the correctly timed uterine environment. There isn't a donor embryo program that syncs the recipient to your cycle and hopes for embryos on day 5 for donation. You limit your options to the current cycle only if you don't freeze.
Talk this one out with your RE before you do the cycle so you don't make any decisions that you'll regret later, one way or another.
leilab I'm going to dispute you here on one thing.
Day 3 freeze DOES happen. The 5 embryos we adopted? They were day 3.
MANY of the profiles we looked through, were day 3. Just as many as were Blastocysts. There are fewer who freeze at the 2pn stage. (At least, in the profiles we looked through).
So the embryologist can freeze them at the 2pn, multi cell, and blastocyst stages.
AND - most clinics have their own idea of when they want to freeze. So you need to talk to them about why and what your own personal preferences are.
Our RE made us decide everything BEFORE the start of the injections for the cycle (when we did our 3 IVF cycles). So you really need to talk to them.
We also had to decide what happened to the embryos that are frozen in all sorts of circumstances: divorce, death, unable to reach us, etc.
So you should also review any paperwork you have had to fill out. It may be you already signed an approval for something.
Did your RE tell you it costs extra to freeze? Is that why you have decided not to freeze them? Because it's normally included for a year's worth of storage in the program fee.
Thanks! I've always been told they don't freeze at day 3 - we were explicitly told no day 3 freezing - so that must vary by center or else freezing technique has gotten better!
They do seem to move ahead quickly at each stage. We knew we'd freeze any left over and so we weren't even consulted. We too were asked to decide what would happen to any extras in those cases of divorce, death etc.
Thanks and I'm sorry about your cycle Waterfall.
Thanks! I've always been told they don't freeze at day 3 - we were explicitly told no day 3 freezing - so that must vary by center or else freezing technique has gotten better!They do seem to move ahead quickly at each stage. We knew we'd freeze any left over and so we weren't even consulted. We too were asked to decide what would happen to any extras in those cases of divorce, death etc.Thanks and I'm sorry about your cycle Waterfall.
Thank you. I'm trying to lose 35 pounds by August 1, and then we'll be doing another transfer in September.
Diet going well, exercise needs improvement . . . but I'm getting there.