ADOPTION & ART ATTORNEYS IN MARYLAND, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA & VIRGINIA
The transfer of viable frozen embryos from one family to another can be an amazing gift.
The chance at parenthood is priceless. However, the process of embryo donation, also sometimes referred to as embryo adoption, can be legally complex.
For this reason, you’ll need experienced attorneys to guide you through your embryo adoption contract in Maryland, Virginia or the District of Columbia. Our team of attorneys at Modern Family Formation Law Offices have years of experience helping families grow through embryo donation Contact us now for your embryo donation contract consultation, or learn more about the process of embryo donation below.
Egg, Embryo or Sperm Donor Services in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, DC
The information below is generally about being a sperm donor and specifically for donors who have already identified intended parents who wish to be the recipients of sperm donation.
By donating an embryo, you can help people to become parents. If you are matched with a couple whom you intend to donate to, it’s extremely important to work with an experienced attorney to create a binding embryo donor contract that protects you legally. Our firm works with known donors who have already identified a couple to whom they wish to donate. We can help you negotiate a known embryo donor agreement in DC, Virginia or Maryland.
If you want to help other hopeful parents achieve their dreams of a family, contact us now to discuss a MD, VA or D.C. embryo donor contract.
Embryo Donor Requirements
The specific requirements for embryo donors often vary depending on the fertility clinic and embryo storage facility involved. Generally the man and woman who created the embryos must meet criteria such as:
- The man and woman must have been 18-35 when the embryos were created.
- The man and woman must have been free from any transmissible diseases.
- The man and woman must have been free from any inheritable genetic disorders.
There may also be a minimum number of frozen embryos stored in order to donate.
Some Programs Require Embryo Adoption
Some programs require that intended parents adopt the embryo. If you go through embryo adoption, intended parents must be screened and complete a home study like they would if they were adopting an infant. The requirements for intended parents who wish to adopt an embryo in DC, VA or MD are similar to the requirements for parents who wish to adopt a child. In both situations, you would be raising a child who is not genetically related to you, and that comes with physical, mental and emotional implications parents should understand.
Most programs allow for embryo donation. In this process, no home study is required. Embryo donation can be done anonymously, but more often, embryo donors are known to the intended parents. If donors and intended parents seek one another through an
embryo agency or fertility clinic, there will be a matching process not unlike in an agency adoption or program-assisted surrogacy. Donors and parents can also search for one another independently without the use of an agency. We’ll help you communicate and negotiate.
THE LEGAL PROCESS OF EMBRYO DONATION
The laws regarding embryo donation are unique and somewhere between the transfer of property and the adoption of a child. We'll help you understand this process and create an embryo donor contract that appropriately reflects your individual situation.
When an embryo donor and recipient have found one another, they’ll each need separate legal representation to advocate for them in the embryo adoption contract phase. When both parties have agreed to the terms of the legal contracts, the ownership of the embryos is transferred from the donors to the recipients. This includes terminating any donor parental rights, which we can handle.
Contact us to learn more about the legal steps required for your embryo donation contract and how we can help you legally protect yourself and your family throughout the embryo adoption process in MD, VA and D.C.
THE MEDICAL PROCESS OF EMBRYO DONATION
If you’ve already gone through the process of IVF and your viable embryos are already in storage, then as a donor, your medical process is complete. For the recipients of your embryos, however, the medical process is just beginning.
Once the embryo adoption agreement is finalized, the intended parents will receive ownership of and all legal rights to the embryos. At that point, the embryos are theirs to do with as they see fit. Typically, the embryos will eventually be thawed and transferred either into the uterus of an intended mother or a gestational surrogate in the hopes of a successful pregnancy.
A child born from an embryo adoption may have biological half- or full siblings through their donors, and there are sometimes emotional bonds created between the two families involved in an embryo donation agreement. Unlike egg or sperm donation agreements, embryo donation agreements may involve some form of contact between the two families that lasts long after the legal process is complete. This is entirely up to the parties involved and the contract they agree to.
How We Help Embryo Donors and Recipients in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia
While we do not match embryo donors and intended parents, we can help you navigate the complex legal processes of embryo donation and adoption if you’re beginning the process of searching for another party or if you’ve found someone to donate to/adopt from. We’ll help you develop an embryo adoption agreement that protects the donors and the recipients.
Contact us to begin your embryo adoption contract in Washington D.C., Maryland or Virginia.