# Embryo Donation

> Citation bundle for Embryo Donation on The Treatment Registry.
> URL: https://thetreatmentregistry.com/procedures/embryo-donation
> Bundle URL: https://thetreatmentregistry.com/api/citations/procedures/embryo-donation

- Category: ivf-fertility

## Description

Embryo donation is one disposition option for users of in vitro fertilisation with remaining fresh or frozen embryos. It is defined as the giving—generally without compensation—of embryos remaining after in vitro fertilization procedures to recipients for procreative implantation or research.

## Overview

Embryo donation is one option for what to do with the fresh or frozen embryos that remain after a course of in vitro fertilisation (IVF). It is defined as the giving — generally without payment — of embryos left over from IVF to recipients, either for procreative implantation or for research. Most people with surplus embryos make this decision after they have completed their own families or have stopped using IVF. Recipients who receive donated embryos for pregnancy typically have the fresh or frozen embryos transferred into a prepared uterus in order to achieve pregnancy and childbirth; any child born this way is biologically related to the people whose egg and sperm created the embryo, not to the woman who carries the pregnancy. Embryos donated for research are typically used for clinical training, quality-improvement research, or human embryonic stem-cell research. In the United States, donors must, where possible, be screened for a series of infectious diseases, and embryo donation is legally treated as a transfer of property rather than as an adoption. Arrangements range from anonymous, where the parties do not know each other, to open, where identities and contact details are shared.

*Reference text adapted from Wikipedia (Embryo donation) under CC BY-SA 4.0. Verify with a qualified clinician before treatment.*

## FAQs

### What is embryo donation?

It is one disposition option for people who have used in-vitro fertilisation and have fresh or frozen embryos remaining. It involves giving those left-over embryos to recipients, either for procreative implantation or for research.

### Are donors paid for their embryos?

Embryo donation is generally carried out without compensation.

### When do people decide to donate their embryos?

Most IVF users who have surplus, or supernumerary, embryos make embryo-donation decisions after they have completed their families or discontinued their use of in-vitro fertilisation.

### What happens to embryos donated to help build a family?

Recipients of embryos donated for procreative implantation typically plan to have the fresh or frozen embryos transferred into a prepared uterus, in order to facilitate pregnancy and childbirth.

### Can donated embryos be used for research?

Yes. Recipients of embryos donated for research typically use them for clinical training, quality-improvement research, or human embryonic stem-cell research.

### Will a child born through embryo donation be genetically related to the woman who carries the pregnancy?

No. A child born from a donated embryo is biologically related to the people whose egg and sperm were used to create that embryo, not to the woman who carries the pregnancy. This is because the embryo was created from another couple's or donors' gametes before being donated.