Soon after in vitro fertilization became a common clinical practice, clinicians discovered a way to preserve embryos in frozen storage and thaw them for implantation later.
[7][incomplete short citation] The matter gained another political dimension in the United States when Congress and the Bush administration budgeted $1 million to promote embryo adoption.
[8] The Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision created new legal issues for in-vitro fertilization.
Several IVF clinics in the state, fearing they would be held liable for accidental loss of embryos, suspended operations.
According to Politico, more cases are likely in the future, with "the Catholic Church and a growing number of evangelicals... [believing] all IVF is wrong because it separates conception from the sexual act between husband and wife".
One review came to the result that the proportion of IVF users who donated embryos for research varied geographically, from 7% in France to 73% in Switzerland.
Others use the terms interchangeably because, regardless of the relationship, a clinical assisted reproduction procedure is involved, and the recipient couple is preparing to raise a child not genetically related to them.
[19] Another organization that offers these services is the National Embryo Donation Center, which requires recipients to be a heterosexual couple that have been married for at least three years.
[20] According to a survey by the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, 54% of fertility patients want to preserve their remaining embryos for future use.
[24] As of May 2012, there were about 600,000 frozen embryos stored in laboratories and fertility clinics,[21] costing the donor families about $72 million annually for storage fees.
The amount of screening the embryo has already undergone is largely dependent on the genetic parents' own IVF clinic and process.
Although embryos can, theoretically, survive indefinitely in frozen storage, as a practical reality someone must eventually decide on a permanent disposition for them.
[citation needed] Embryo donation process in European countries is more cost effective compared to the US, especially in Cyprus where the success rates are higher.
Genetic parents may be updated by the agency when a successful pregnancy is achieved and when a child or children is/are born.
The process is entered into willingly by both sets of parents because of the added safeguards, knowledge and communication offered to both parties by the system.