Establishment of a successful donor embryo program: medical, ethical, and policy issues

Objective: To determine how couples prefer to dispose embryo program for th e treatment of infertile couples. Design: Cohort study. Setting: University-based IVF program. Patient(s): Patients (n = 365) with cryopreserved embryos in storage for >2 years and eight patients who desired donated embryos for transfer. Intervention(s): An IVF ethics committer was formed to discuss the ethical and policy issues involved in starting an embryo donation program and to es tablish program guidelines. Couples with embryos cryopre served for greater than or equal to 2 years were contacted to determine their desires for dis position of embryos. Potential recipients of donated embryos were identifie d in our clinic, and donated embryos were transferred to these patients. Main Outcome Measure(s): Desires for embryo disposition and pregnancy rates . Result(s): Most couples elected either to continue storage of their embryos for future use (44%) or to discard their embryos (34%). A minority elected to donate their embryos either to infertile couples (11%) or for research (10%): Eight couples have had donated embryos transferred, and four have co nceived ongoing pregnancies. Conclusion(s): Although only a small percentage of couples are willing to d onate their embryos, the resulting number of embryos for use is substantial . Transfer of donated embryos results in a high pregnancy rate and is a cos t-effective treatment of infertility. (Fertil Steril(R) 1999;71:604- 8. (C) 1999 by American Society for Reproductive Medicine.).