Thanks to technological advancements made at SGF in the last decade surrounding in vitro fertilization (IVF), thousands of patients have achieved their dreams of parenthood with increasing efficiency and fewer IVF cycles—good news for the growing number of hopeful parents who are turning to embryo donation to build their families.
SGF’s Embryo Donation Program offers another increasingly accessible and popular option for intended parents. While a relatively new program at SGF, the practice reports a 250% growth in the number of donor embryo transfers from 2017 to 2018, with over 100 donor embryo cycles completed last year alone, and a 43 percent ongoing pregnancy rate per embryo transfer.
“Becoming a recipient of a donated embryo offers a unique and cost-effective alternative for some who are looking to grow their families, and an option that more and more individuals and couples are utilizing. In some cases, a woman or couple might not otherwise be able to experience the joys of carrying a pregnancy, giving birth, or becoming a parent,” shared Program Director, Michele Purcell, MHA, RN.
Former SGF patients, Natalie and Jon, weighed their treatment options before ultimately choosing SGF’s Embryo Donation Program. “We realized that what was important to us in having children was love, not genetics,” Natalie explained. “Also, we felt comfortable investing financially in embryo donation because it honors life and gives embryos a chance to be born.”
Through SGF’s Embryo Donor Registry, each donor profile provides an opportunity for intended parent(s) to learn about those who are donating. Natalie and Jon detail their experience and how they were “blessed with a smooth process.”
“The time from our consultation appointment to transfer day was only 6 weeks. The SGF Donor Embryo Program allows you to choose two embryos from an unidentified couple. When choosing our donors, we didn’t know their identity, but we were still given lots of information such as age, ethnicity, height, eye/hair color, medical history, and even childhood pictures,” added Natalie. “Before we knew it, transfer day was here, and it was so special to receive a picture of our embryo. It was our snowflake baby: tiny, frozen, and unique!” Read Natalie and Jon’s full story: here.
Patients may donate as few as one embryo, or as many frozen embryos that meet the eligibility requirements.
“Embryo donation allows patients who once struggled themselves to conceive to share the joy of parenthood with someone else,” says Purcell. “With donating comes a tremendous sense of pride in being able to help another person or couple achieve their dreams of parenthood.”
To learn more about donating embryos created at SGF, or to inquire about SGF’s Embryo Donation Program, please email [email protected] or 301-545-1323.
