panorama photo crop

Frozen Donor Embryo Matching

We currently offer a frozen Donor Embryo Matching service to assist clients in finding donor embryos that meet general criteria such as ethnicity, height, weight, hair and eye color. In our initial consultation, we will compare the similarities and differences between embryo donation in the United States and Europe. I have can provide information about various types of embryo donation (and embryo "adoption") programs in the United States as well as embryo donation programs in other countries. At this time only provide concierge service to assist with matching embryos outside of the US.

Typically, the frozen embryo donation programs abroad consist primarily of embryos from anonymous donor egg and donor sperm (meaning both donors had to meet the donation guidelines and both are anonymous), or in some more limited cases, there may be embryos remaining from a patient who has already completed their family building. Generally speaking, those tend to be from donor egg cycles where the partner's fresh sperm was used for fertilization. In all cases, if the country has laws mandating donor anonymity, those will fully extend to their donor embryo programs as well.

Practically speaking, at clinics that treat a large number of foreign patients, it is much more difficult for them to get the foreign patients who are done with their family building to go back and complete the additional required STD screening (if either the patients eggs or partner's fresh sperm were used) that would allow their embryos to be donated to another patient.  Given the additional time and effort involved to manage that process and paperwork, some clinics simply do not have enough patient demand to support offering the service.  Oftentimes, they cite that patients receiving embryos would prefer donor embryos from both sperm and egg donors who were required to pass full medical screening, age guidelines and strict donor selection criteria.

Also, in my experience, since the European clinics stimulate donors for a lower quantity of oocytes (they focus on quality rather than quantity and feel it is protective of the donor's health), there are fewer patients with unused excess frozen embryos.

You may want to read my blog post about Donor Embryos Abroad for more discussion on the common similarities and differences between typical donor embryo programs in the United States and abroad.

Although the programs are sometimes referred to as embryo adoption programs, because of the legal requirements for donor anonymity in most of the popular European countries for egg donation, there are no legal or procedural processes that are consistent with adoption.  The clinics manage and have legal responsibility for any donor embryos (because patient directed donations are illegal).  Generally, clinics have no requirements for recipients to meet special social criteria or provide home studies, etc.  For acceptance into the donor embryo program, it is simply a matter of whether the patient is medically suited for pregnancy within the guidelines allowed for fertility treatments in that country.  For further explanation on the nuances of embryo donation vs. embryo adoption, I suggest reading The American Society of Reproductive Medicine Ethics Committee (ASRM) report on defining embryo donations stating why embryo donation should not be treated as adoption nor referred to as embryo adoption.

As with all of our services, you pay us a flat fee for our donor embryo matching service, but that fee is not inclusive of the treatment fees which my vary by clinic. Typical clinic pricing will vary by clinic and generally factors in the number of embryos, additional technologies employed during their cultivation (such as use of vitrification, Embryoscope embryo monitoring or others), as well as the clinic's success rates.  Donor embryo treatment fees typically start as low as 700 Euro and go up to several thousand Euros not including your medications, advance screening, or travel.  US clinic baesd donor embryo programs generally range from around $4,000 - $10,000 (although can be as high as over $15,000 in cases where an "adoption" matching an home study are required).

Contact us to learn more or schedule a consultation about our embryo matching service.  Ask about our partial refund guarantee if we are unable to find embryos that match your criteria.