Embryo Adoption

[Thom Little]

This year, opponents of abortion stepped up their use of a carefully chosen phrase - "embryo adoption" - that describes a couples' decision to have a baby using the embryos of another couple.

The less loaded term for embryo adoption is "embryo donation." It typically signifies that a couple who have undergone in vitro fertilization, and have had as many children as they wish to, are releasing their leftover embryos for use by other would-be parents. Of some 400,000 frozen embryos in the country, according to the RAND Corporation, about 9,000 are designated for other families. (Another 11,000 are designated for research, while the balance remain unused in freezers.)

Medically, embryo adoption and embryo donation are identical. But to promoters of embryo adoption, which term you use makes all the difference: "We would like for embryos to be recognized as human life and therefore to be adopted as opposed to treated as property," explains Kathryn Deiters, director of development at the Nightlight Christian Adoptions agency, in California, which has been offering embryo adoptions since the late 1990's. Nightlight also favors the term "snowflakes." As the agency's executive director, Ron Stoddart, told The Washington Times: "Like snowflakes, these embryos are unique, they're fragile and, of course, they're frozen.. . .It's a perfect analogy."

In May, President Bush delighted the Nightlight agency when he met with some of its young success stories, who wore "Former Embryo" stickers on their chests. He used the occasion to stress his opposition to legislation supporting wider stem-cell research with embryos.




http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/11/magazine/11ideas1-16.html

[TallahasseeGrannie]

1. Why am I picturing the Cabbage Patch Kids?

Bad, Grannie, Bad!

[Dark]

9. Very bad!

:spank:

[HockeyMom]

2. Freeper posting

He actually called the Snowflake Organization posing as a husband who wanted to "adopt". He questioned their 100% adoption rate. After a lot of beating around the bush, they admitted they only had, ready for this one, NINE embryos who were placed up for adoption and all NINE were adopted. That is nine out of approximately 400,000 across the country. Even putting aside the medical fact that not all embryos implant NATURALLY, let alone with IVF, how many of those NINE will result in full term babies?

The woman told this Freeper that they are having a problem recruiting donors. It seems the couples either want to keep them frozen for the future, don't want somebody ELSE having their child, are donating them to stem cell research, or just plain destroying them. He posted that the woman he talked with seemed very upset with the progress they are making.

He got MAJOR flack for posing all this. Sorry, I should have saved the link. Made very interesting reading all their DENIALS on the REALITY of this.

[noamnety]

3. So if these people get their way

social services could take custody of your frozen embryos if they feel you'd be an unfit parent. They could give them to another couple against your will, right?

[Lindacooks]

4. "Former Embryos"???? HAHAHAHAHA!

God, is that stupid. Everyone is a 'former embryo'. Too bad they won't ever wear a sticker that says 'educated person with logical reasoning skills'.

[ultraist]

5. Good grief, more insanity.

Why don't they promote adopting born children who'd otherwise have to live out a dreary life in foster care?

Those people are nuts.

[FVZA_Colonel]

6. That's what really bothers me about adopting embryoes.

How can they even think of adopting an embryo, that might not even develop into a fetus, when there are so many LIVING children who need loving parents?

[ProudDad]

7. I'll adopt one

Gotta grow me a new liver in case I need to replace mine!




:sarcasm: or is it :irony: or :satire:

[elehhhhna]

8. I call it "A good idea". lol