I'm thinking about adoption
There are an estimated 1.5 million or more frozen human embryos in the United States right now. No federal or state law requires fertility clinics to report how many embryos they have created, frozen, destroyed, or placed for adoption, which means that number is almost certainly imprecise, and not by accident. What we do know is that those human embryos were created through IVF by parents who wanted children. Now, for whatever reasons, those parents aren’t in a position to give these children a chance to continue their lives. So, what should they do?
Embryo adoption exists precisely for these situations and it is, we believe, the courageous and life-affirming path forward.
What is embryo adoption?
Embryo adoption, sometimes called snowflake donation, is the process by which a family places their remaining frozen embryo(s) up for adoption with a fertility clinic or a legitimate embryo adoption agency. As with adoption proceedings for a born child, the hope is that another family will adopt their human embryos, implant them, and give them a chance at continuing their life.
From a legal standpoint, there is a significant difference between working with a licensed embryo adoption agency and going through a standard fertility clinic. Under FDA regulations, clinics treat embryo transfers as tissue donation, the same category as a blood transfusion. There is no best-interest-of-the-child assessment, no qualified caseworker, and no process to ensure background checks, home studies, counseling, or family-matching take place.
An embryo adoption agency, by contrast, functions like a traditional adoption agency, with caseworkers, background checks, home visits, and a genuine focus on the best interest of the child. For families approaching this from a Christian or broadly pro-life perspective, working with a licensed agency is the recommended path.
Of course, embryo adoption is not a treatment for infertility. Nor should it be approached as one. It is an act of charity toward a child who is in need of a family and home, and in this case their adoptive mother also becomes their birth mother through pregnancy.
Why does this matter morally?
Because every one of those frozen embryos is a human life — not a cluster of cells with potential or a medical byproduct, but a distinct human being made in the image of God.
While there are certainly risks involved—from the adverse health outcomes associated with IVF for mother and baby, to potential identity questions for the adopted child—the child did not choose to be created via IVF.
Much like children conceived in difficult or broken circumstances, we should not ask the child to bear the cost of decisions adults made. The moral failures of the fertility industry are serious precisely because they involve human life, and that is exactly why those failures cannot become a reason to abandon the embryos caught in the middle of them.
Parents who place their embryos for adoption are choosing life in a real and costly way, sacrificing their own comfort to do so. Families who receive those embryos are opening their homes to a child who already exists and deserves a chance to continue their life.
Is it right for you?
That depends on a lot of things: your health, your family situation, your possible infertility diagnosis, and if you believe this is something that you are called to pursue. Embryo adoption is not the only ethical path to parenthood, and it’s not the right fit for every couple. But if you’ve been wondering whether there’s a way to grow your family that also answers the crisis of frozen embryos, this is worth exploring.
Where to start
Nightlight Christian Adoptions’ Snowflakes Embryo Adoption Program is the first of its kind, established in 1997, and remains one of the most trusted faith-based options available. The National Embryo Donation Center is another strong starting point. Both organizations treat embryo adoption as exactly what it is: the adoption of a child at the earliest stage of life.