"Radical Plan for Embryo Donation Down Under"

I hope I am allowed to post the following article here.

It comes from BioEdge e-Newsletter (Edition 262), authored by Australasian BioEthics - 22/08/07

In an effort to make donation of IVF embryos more like adoption, the Australian state of Victoria is thinking of allowing donor couples to choose their child's future parents. They would be copying New Zealand's policy, a world first, which makes a meeting between the parties compulsory. Of all the embryos generated in IVF clinics, few are donated. According Victoria's Infertility Treatment Authority, most couples choose to donate their embryos to research and the others are destroyed. However, a few dozen are donated.

Professor Ken Daniels, deputy chairman of the NZ government's advisory committee on assisted reproductive technology, says that embryo donation is more like adoption because couples are essentially donating potential full siblings of their own children. Both couples are making a "massive decision".

"We are talking, from the donating couple's point of view, of them providing for another couple an embryo that will be a forced sibling of the children that are growing up in their own family," he said. "From that point of view it's very important, especially in terms of the Victorian legislation and our legislation here in New Zealand, that offspring have the opportunity to know about their genetic origins. To know about their genetic origins means that they know who the donating couple were and the siblings that are in that family."

IVF clinics in Melbourne do not seem enthusiastic about what the ITA regards as an "enlightened, sensitive policy". Monash IVF managing director Donna Howlett said that it would just place one more hurdle in front of couples who are trying to have a family. ~ABC, Age, Aug 21

WOW I think that is an awesome idea. I have watched a couple of shows on discovery Health channel about a program they run it the US.
It was called Embryo Adoption. It made me cry just to see the joy on those peoples faces. But it also made me cry seeing what the donar family went thru to give that beautiful gift. Some choose not to have any contact once they had signed off on there embryos and others decided to have contact a couple of times a year.
Those people that choose to get pictures found it very hard to deal with knowing it was there flesh and blood but were still glad about what they had done.
The ones that choose not to know anything were left to wonder about what became of there embryos if anything at all. I think this is the best way. I think if this program was in Australia it would just be a beautiful gift to so many childless couples