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The situation is radically different from a legal viewpoint too.
Contrary to an ordinary adoption, the couple do not have to go
through any formalities before they can consider the child legally
theirs.
THE TREATMENT
As discussed above, donor embryos are donated by couples who
have had IVF treatment and produced more embryos than they
needed for transfer. These remaining (or surplus) embryos are
frozen and stored for potential use at a later date by the couple
or for donation.
The treatment needed by the recipient woman is described in
the ‘Medical Practice’ section, p. 48-50. The woman’s natural
menstrual cycle is either medically reinforced and monitored or
replaced entirely by an artificially-induced cycle. In both situations
her body is prepared for the embryo transfer.
The thawed embryos are tested immediately before transfer takes
place. Only those embryos who have succesfully withstood the
thawing process - without too much damage to their cells - can be
transferred with a reasonable chance of successful implantation.
Consequently the more frozen embryos are available for donation,
the greater the chances of a successful pregnancy.
Once the embryo has been transferred to the womb, the woman’s
medical and drug follow up is exactly the same as with standard
IVF treatment (see Medical Practice, p. 46-48). The chances of
a successful embryo implantation and a full-term pregnancy are
practically the same too.
DONATION
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