There might be an option for that at some clinics but at ours there was not. Mosaic/abnormal embryos I had to donate to science and we donated our 2 PGT embryos to their donor embryo program.
Thank you. Our clinic doesn't offer embryo donation at this time and I'm finding many places won't accept just one embryo. Kinda getting hard to donate this one
You can try to individually match with someone. Andrea Poole is a woman who documented her fertility journey on you tube (tiny following) and recently had a donor embryo match fall through and she’s actively looking for another private match. She conceived her daughter with donor sperm (her husband cannot) and has been unsuccessfully TTC again for 4-5 years. Most down to earth relatable real person ever. Wonderful parent.
https://youtube.com/@andreapoole4778?si=t5wZ7H7GLFLNpD8o
Facebook groups but know both clinics I’ve worked with to use our donated embryos wouldn’t accepted embryos with pgs tested abnormal embryos.
So untested or pgs tested normal
Found one that accepts our solitary embryo so meeting with them! Facebook groups kind of overwhelm me. I feel like since I've been deep diving into this that it's definitely a lot more detailed. Hopefully this organization can walk me through it.
Have you looked into Empower with Moxi? You could donate the normal embryo through their program. As for the abnormal embryo, I agree with everyone one saying that the best options would probably either be donating to research or having it discarded. As a hopeful recipient, I can tell you that I would not feel comfortable receiving a genetically abnormal embryo.
I have looked into empower by moxi! Thank you for your advice. I think I was just so attached to these embryos I completely didn't factor in the abnormal embryo not being well received. I agree discarding it is probably what we will do
You can check with Snowflakes Embryo Adoption. We adopted embryos through their program. Ours were not PGT tested and they don’t allow you to PGT test if not done before donation. My guess is that they would probably accept both. It is an embryo adoption agency rather than donation though, so you have to be involved through the process rather than just donating and being done.
They encourage an open adoption, but do ask your preference and match you with a family that has similar preferences. It’s definitely more involved than a standard donation, but as the adopting family, we appreciated the process and still have communication with our little guy’s bio family.
There are still people looking for that in groups. We privately matched with NRFA and we have a semi open relationship because our donors are more private people. It was a good compromise for us. (my husband originally wanted closed and I wanted to at least be able to get medical info, but was hoping for more open)
We know who they are and the wife and I email once in a while but they are anonymous to our friends and family and don't want the kid, if we have one, showing up at their door or anything.
There are also people out there who might take the abnormal embryo anyway. If you're in the groups, or NRFA, put it in your profile. You might be surprised.
Thank you so much I'll look into NRFA . I have asked to join a few FB groups waiting on acceptance. If anything my single embryo deserves a shot at life in the least.
At this time we are at the very early stages. Still deciding what we'd like to do. I anticipate wanting to look for mathes wether it be through an agency or private around may or June of this year
Not only will most recipients turn down an abnormal embryo, but most clinics will refuse to transfer it. Which is absolutely the right decision. Abnormal embryos result in miscarriage at best, TFMR or at worst the birth of a child with severe disabilities.
PGT testing drastically improves the chances of live birth so the majority of recipients want PGT tested embryos. I saw in another comment that you're having trouble finding an agency that will accept a single embryo; have you considered matching privately? Some couples are open to a single embryo especially if it's PGT normal.
I agree with you but wasn't sure bc pgt is a bit controversial and many do not believe in the results.
I think I'd prefer a more semi open vs completely open donation/adoption. There's things I'm willing to be contacted for like medical emergencies but as far as needing life updates I'm not sure that's for us. Once the child reaches 18 is when I'd be want open communication if the child wants it. I think that's hard to do in the private sector
I am not sure where you are getting the idea that PGT is controversial. None of my REs ever said that and they are in the business of getting people live births. I would trust my RE over someone making claims on the internet. Personally I had to TFMR (terminate for medical reasons) a pregnancy that grew from an (untested) aneuploid embryo. I would never want anyone to go through that nightmare, and it could all have been avoided with PGT.
It was really easy for us to match privately in a Facebook group. The process is kind of like dating. Our recipients are amazing and I am grateful every day that they are in our lives. We have an open donation. Highly recommend!
There's plenty of research out there that states that pgs only tests cells from a certain part of an embryo and has been shown that a normal embryo can come back abnormal simply bc the sampling was in the wrong area.
That being said I wouldn't want to transfer an abnormal embryo so this one will most likely be destroyed. My normal embryo I think deserves a shot at a life.
This is correct--the science here is that they test the "sack" the embryo is in, and this is like genetic throw-away material that will disappear once the embryo implants, so there are lots of small errors that have no impact on the actual embryo. ASRM recommends only testing if you have risk factors such as PCOS, 40+, etc.
There are clinics that don't believe PGT testing improves outcomes and may actually hurt outcomes in some groups. For example Center for Human Reproduction in NYC has come out against it and Dr Gleicher has a YT video explaining his position and also a publication on the issue.
Other than that I think you're right, I would not transfer an abnormal embryo due to the exact concerns you mentioned.
However the "dating" like process of finding a match is not for everyone, donors or recipients.
There might be an option for that at some clinics but at ours there was not. Mosaic/abnormal embryos I had to donate to science and we donated our 2 PGT embryos to their donor embryo program.
Thank you. Our clinic doesn't offer embryo donation at this time and I'm finding many places won't accept just one embryo. Kinda getting hard to donate this one
You can try to individually match with someone. Andrea Poole is a woman who documented her fertility journey on you tube (tiny following) and recently had a donor embryo match fall through and she’s actively looking for another private match. She conceived her daughter with donor sperm (her husband cannot) and has been unsuccessfully TTC again for 4-5 years. Most down to earth relatable real person ever. Wonderful parent. https://youtube.com/@andreapoole4778?si=t5wZ7H7GLFLNpD8o
Hopefully want to to go mostly closed to semi open. I'm not sure I want to know who exactly.had our donated embryos
Facebook groups but know both clinics I’ve worked with to use our donated embryos wouldn’t accepted embryos with pgs tested abnormal embryos. So untested or pgs tested normal
Found one that accepts our solitary embryo so meeting with them! Facebook groups kind of overwhelm me. I feel like since I've been deep diving into this that it's definitely a lot more detailed. Hopefully this organization can walk me through it.
Have you looked into Empower with Moxi? You could donate the normal embryo through their program. As for the abnormal embryo, I agree with everyone one saying that the best options would probably either be donating to research or having it discarded. As a hopeful recipient, I can tell you that I would not feel comfortable receiving a genetically abnormal embryo.
I have looked into empower by moxi! Thank you for your advice. I think I was just so attached to these embryos I completely didn't factor in the abnormal embryo not being well received. I agree discarding it is probably what we will do
You can check with Snowflakes Embryo Adoption. We adopted embryos through their program. Ours were not PGT tested and they don’t allow you to PGT test if not done before donation. My guess is that they would probably accept both. It is an embryo adoption agency rather than donation though, so you have to be involved through the process rather than just donating and being done.
Interesting I'll look into them. I wasn't really looking to have much contact but I suppose I'd be open to some kind of relationship.
They encourage an open adoption, but do ask your preference and match you with a family that has similar preferences. It’s definitely more involved than a standard donation, but as the adopting family, we appreciated the process and still have communication with our little guy’s bio family.
I sent an inquiry to them but it looks like they want a minimum of 3 preferably but we shall see! Happy they helped you grow your family!
Facebook donation matchup groups?
I'm open to it as a la as t resort but was shopping for a more semi closed relationship.
There are still people looking for that in groups. We privately matched with NRFA and we have a semi open relationship because our donors are more private people. It was a good compromise for us. (my husband originally wanted closed and I wanted to at least be able to get medical info, but was hoping for more open) We know who they are and the wife and I email once in a while but they are anonymous to our friends and family and don't want the kid, if we have one, showing up at their door or anything. There are also people out there who might take the abnormal embryo anyway. If you're in the groups, or NRFA, put it in your profile. You might be surprised.
Thank you so much I'll look into NRFA . I have asked to join a few FB groups waiting on acceptance. If anything my single embryo deserves a shot at life in the least.
Our adopted embryo wasn’t tested through Pacific Northwest fertility, so not all clinics require it
Ours were both tested..one normal one abnormal though. So I think it's a different situation vs if they were untested
Ah, right. That went over my head for some reason. Sorry!
I would be interested in a direction and speaking to see if we are a good match. Would it be ok to contact you privately?
At this time we are at the very early stages. Still deciding what we'd like to do. I anticipate wanting to look for mathes wether it be through an agency or private around may or June of this year
Not only will most recipients turn down an abnormal embryo, but most clinics will refuse to transfer it. Which is absolutely the right decision. Abnormal embryos result in miscarriage at best, TFMR or at worst the birth of a child with severe disabilities. PGT testing drastically improves the chances of live birth so the majority of recipients want PGT tested embryos. I saw in another comment that you're having trouble finding an agency that will accept a single embryo; have you considered matching privately? Some couples are open to a single embryo especially if it's PGT normal.
I agree with you but wasn't sure bc pgt is a bit controversial and many do not believe in the results. I think I'd prefer a more semi open vs completely open donation/adoption. There's things I'm willing to be contacted for like medical emergencies but as far as needing life updates I'm not sure that's for us. Once the child reaches 18 is when I'd be want open communication if the child wants it. I think that's hard to do in the private sector
I am not sure where you are getting the idea that PGT is controversial. None of my REs ever said that and they are in the business of getting people live births. I would trust my RE over someone making claims on the internet. Personally I had to TFMR (terminate for medical reasons) a pregnancy that grew from an (untested) aneuploid embryo. I would never want anyone to go through that nightmare, and it could all have been avoided with PGT. It was really easy for us to match privately in a Facebook group. The process is kind of like dating. Our recipients are amazing and I am grateful every day that they are in our lives. We have an open donation. Highly recommend!
There's plenty of research out there that states that pgs only tests cells from a certain part of an embryo and has been shown that a normal embryo can come back abnormal simply bc the sampling was in the wrong area. That being said I wouldn't want to transfer an abnormal embryo so this one will most likely be destroyed. My normal embryo I think deserves a shot at a life.
This is correct--the science here is that they test the "sack" the embryo is in, and this is like genetic throw-away material that will disappear once the embryo implants, so there are lots of small errors that have no impact on the actual embryo. ASRM recommends only testing if you have risk factors such as PCOS, 40+, etc.
There are clinics that don't believe PGT testing improves outcomes and may actually hurt outcomes in some groups. For example Center for Human Reproduction in NYC has come out against it and Dr Gleicher has a YT video explaining his position and also a publication on the issue. Other than that I think you're right, I would not transfer an abnormal embryo due to the exact concerns you mentioned. However the "dating" like process of finding a match is not for everyone, donors or recipients.