News Release

For Immediate Release                                          

Contact: Jacqueline L. Halbig
202-205-2317   

HHS Awards Grants for Frozen Embryo Donation/Adoption Awareness

The Office of Population Affairs (OPA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today announced the award of five new Embryo Donation/Adoption Awareness Grants totaling $2.18 million. The projects are part of a public awareness campaign to educate Americans about the existence of frozen embryos available for donation and or adoption.

Embryo donation/adoption is a relatively new process whereby individuals with extra frozen embryos agree to release them for transfer to the uterus of an infertile woman. The increasing success of assisted reproductive technologies has resulted in the availability of surplus embryos. A couple typically creates several embryos through in-vitro fertilization (IVF). During IVF treatments, couples may produce many embryos in their attempts to become pregnant with several being cryopreserved (frozen) for future use. If a woman becomes pregnant without using all of the stored embryos, the couple may choose to release, that is donate, the remaining unused embryos for adoption.

The newly funded grants will develop new messaging to publicize frozen embryo donation and adoption as a response to the growing numbers of frozen embryos. Innovative uses of Internet technology will complement traditional media, conferences, seminars and individualized counseling to promote the practice of embryo donation and adoption.

The embryo adoption Grants are for three years based on funds available. Grant recipients: