What Would You Do With Extra Frozen Embryos?

What would you do with extra frozen embryos after IVF, if you had any? Would you donate them to another couple? Give them to science? Throw them out?

In a recent study in the Journal of Fertility and Sterility, researchers asked couples what they would most likely choose to do with leftover frozen embryos. The study involved 1,020 fertility patients, culled from nine fertility clinics around the United States of America. The options were to store for a later IVF cycle, thaw and discard, donate to another couple, keep frozen indefinitely, or donate for research. Patients were also asked if they would prefer an alternate option, of either holding a disposal ceremony, or having the embryos placed in the woman’s body at an infertile time, so that they would “naturally” die.

The study found that 54% wanted to keep them for later use, like a sibling for their IVF child. About 21% said they would donate them for research, and 7% or fewer were likely to choose any other choice.

I’m not really surprised about the results, though from the looks of news sites that reported on this new research (for example, this New York Times Article: Parents Torn Over Fate of Frozen Embryos), I wonder if I’m alone in my non-surprise.

Personally, if I had extra embryos, I think I would either keep them for another baby, or I’d donate them to science. If I couldn’t do that, I probably would end up leaving them frozen, just because choosing to have them thawed would be a difficult choice.

One thing I’m almost sure I wouldn’t do is donate them to another couple. I think it’s wonderful that some couples can do that, but for me, I would feel like someone else was raising my child. On the other hand, if the embryos are thrown away, then the potential life just goes to waste.

Obviously, I’m not really sure what I’d choose, and it looks like my indecision is common: there are an estimated 400,000 frozen embryos in clinics across the country.

There is so much more to say about this topic, but I’d like to hear from you. What do you think you’d choose? And would you go about your IVF cycle any differently to avoid extra embryos? (Keeping mind that that fertilizing fewer eggs may lower your chances of having healthy ones to transfer, and that if the cycle failed, you’d have to do it all over again from the start, since you wouldn’t have frozen embryos waiting to be thawed and transferred.)

What are your thoughts on this sensitive but important topic? Share your opinion in the comments below, and be sure to vote in the poll!