What Is Embryo Adoption?
Embryo adoption is the process by which the adoptive family assumes care for embryos who were created by another couple through In-Vitro Fertilization (IVF). The adopted embryo is transferred to the adoptive mother through a process called a frozen embryo transfer (FET), and the adoptive couple raises any children born from the transfer as their own. In many circles, embryo adoption is referred to as embryo donation, but at the Known Project, we make the distinction of adoption because we believe that personhood starts at the moment of fertilization and therefore, embryos are not simply property, but rather unique beings, the tiniest image bearers of God.
What is an embryo?
An embryo is the umbrella term used in medical terminology for fertilization, or when the sperm meets the egg, until 8 weeks of pregnancy. In the case of embryo adoption, the embryos typically range anywhere from a couple days to a week old depending on the type of embryo. There is still a lot of confusion around the term embryo, as many people refer to them as simply ‘eggs. This is where education is tantamount to reduce confusion on what embryos are and what they are not. An egg, or oocyte, is unfertilized and has no hope of developing into a human being. Conversely, an embryo already carries his or her own unique new set of DNA and is a new human being.
A Christian understanding
In Jeremiah 1:5 God says “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you…” Over and over again in scripture God affirms that human life is sacred and bears His image. As the Creator and Author of life, God declares that children are blessings and a heritage from Him. In response to these truths, Christians believe that God created life to begin at the moment of fertilization, when two cells come together to form a new, unique human being and image bearer of God. Therefore, human dignity does not begin at birth, depend on size, or disappear because a child is hidden in cryogenic storage. Psalm 139:15-16 reads “My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” Frozen embryos may be unseen by the world, but they are not unknown to God.
Embryo adoption is not simply a path to pregnancy, but rather a restorative plan to redeem the brokenness of millions of little lives currently waiting in cryogenic storage.
Is embryo adoption the same as IVF?
No. IVF creates embryos through assisted reproduction. Embryo adoption responds to embryos who already exist. Christians can believe IVF raises serious moral concerns while also believing that children created through it should not be abandoned, destroyed, or treated as medical material.
Why call it adoption?
The law may handle embryos differently from traditional adoption, but legal categories do not determine human worth. Adoption names the moral reality: a child is welcomed permanently into a family.
Embryo adoption does not solve every ethical problem surrounding IVF. It answers one urgent question: What should Christians do for the children who are already here?