Receiving Embryos

If you are interested in growing your family with embryo donation, Era is here for the next era of your life.

Receiving embryos can truly be a life changing event, but often the process is misunderstood or not patient centered.

Era strives to balance the needs of everyone involved with embryo donation. You can trust that by utilizing the Era Embryo donation program and the Fora Fertility team, your pathway toward parenthood will be a carefully guided journey.

When you receive donated embryos, you are the intended parents of the child. Many people refer to receiving donated embryos as embryo adoption, but this process is quite different from adoption. Technically, adoption is legally obtaining guardianship of an existing child.

Receiving donated embryos requires an intended parent (or a gestational carrier) to undergo a frozen embryo transfer and the donated embryo will be implanted in a simple procedure in the IVF Laboratory.

Legally, once you sign the agreement accepting the donated embryos, they are yours and you are the intended parent.

What sets Era apart?

  • Only high quality euploid blastocyst embryos are acceptable for transfer (all embryos have been genetically tested with PGT-A)

  • Era does not discriminate based on age, marital status, ethnic background, or sexual preference.

  • Our program does not require outside involvement - no outside agency fees, outside attorney fees, a home study, or adoption fees (which is typically a cost of 10-30k extra).

  • Era allows selection of a sex preference for family balancing.

  • Embryos are accepted from all over the US, this allows a large catchment area and genetic distribution

  • All medical records are thoroughly reviewed. Medical and family history are reviewed in medical records and not just patient reported. Family and medical history will be updated as new health data is available for donors.

  • Survival policy: Era guarantees one euploid embryo will survive the freeze thaw for transfer (either your donor selection has >1 available embryo or you select a suitable back-up in the circumstance of thaw non-survival). Although rare (<1%), not every embryo will survive the freeze/thaw and Era believes you should still be able to proceed with your embryo transfer.

Requirements for intended parents to receive donated embryos:

  • Age 55 or younger, with required medical clearance if you are over the age of 45.

  • Complete consultation with Fora Fertility and meet all screening requirements.

  • Travel to Austin, Texas for embryo transfer with Fora Fertility.

  • There are no requirements regarding sexual orientation, marital status, gender, race, or ethnicity. At Era, we do not discriminate in parenthood in any way.

Understanding the process:

let's learn more about the Era way and how to start the process…

Step 1:

Complete this form to begin the process of embryo donation with Era. 

Step 2:

Our embryo coordinator will reach out to help walk you through the process step by step.

Step 3:

The Era Embryo coordinator will reach out to review the Era Embryo financial package with you.

Step 4:

Once your screening payment is made, you will schedule a 30 minute virtual consultation with one of the Fora Fertility physicians to review the steps for the embryo transfer, answer questions, and review screening requirements.

Step 5:

Complete screening requirements which include uterine and tubal evaluation (a saline sonogram with femvue), mock embryo transfer, and labs at Fora Fertility. You will also meet with a reproductive psychologist to learn more about embryo donation and to gather resources and ask questions (this is not a clearance but a required information session). There is no home study or background check required.

Step 6:

Our Era embryo coordinator will review the selection process and donor embryo profiles to help you select your donor embryo. All patients will have at least 2 embryos from that cohort or will select a back-up donor if their first choice has only one available embryo as Era has a thaw survival guarantee.

Step 7:

Complete all required paperwork including consents and legal agreement.

Step 8:

Begin the frozen embryo transfer process with Fora Fertility. Your cycle coordinator will walk you through a class with medication and calendar review, and answer all questions. You will be required to come to Fora Fertility for your monitoring visit and the embryo transfer. You can complete your baseline ultrasound closer to home, although this will be an additional cost at the discretion of the clinic you choose to attend.

Understanding the legality with embryo donation – Who do the donated embryos belong to?

When you receive donated embryos, you assume all parental rights. This means that you (the intended parents) are the legal parents of the potential children from the donated embryos. All paperwork provided by Era is legally binding and you do not need to pay for your own lawyer.

As there are no laws regarding adoption of embryos, we have created the contract to match the current position of the courts that the embryos are property. Families who donate their embryos, release all legal ownership of their embryos (property) and those embryos then belong to Era.

The contract you sign covers the transfer of embryos (meaning, now these embryos are your property) from Era. These legal forms are signed and executed prior to any frozen embryo transfer (FET). Please note, directed donation has different legal requirements, and these may even vary based on state of residence.

Why is anonymous embryo donation at Era different?

No gamete donation program is truly anonymous due to advancing home genetic testing options, but most embryo donations through Era are non-identified.

Anonymous donation means that you will not know who donated your embryos and they will not know who are the recipients of the embryos. Unlike many third party companies, at Era your donor’s medical records are required and reviewed prior to accepting embryos. Family medical history is extensively covered and updated as new family history data is received. Many intended parents are open to directed or identified donation, but many of the people choosing to donate their embryos do not, and ultimately we respect their request made when donating.

One advantage with Era is our large reach and the ability to have embryos from all over the country. This allows for more gene pool diversification than intra-clinic donation programs. With Era, you will have a personalized approach to matching donor embryos with recipient needs.

What about directed donation or receiving identified embryos?

Directed donation options are available for those interested, based on donor preference. Currently, selection is limited and wait times are likely longer, but you should proceed with the option that makes the most sense for your family. Your embryo coordinator will review the options with you.

How much does embryo donation cost?

At Era the financial process is simplified to include a 2-step process. 

  1. Application and screening cost

  2. Cycle coordination and Embryo Transfer cost

Total cost for embryo donation cycle with embryo transfer $12,500

You will be able to review the financial package in detail with the embryo coordinator after submission of initial request.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • As an intended parent receiving donor embryos, you will learn the medical history, family history, genetic history, race, ethnic background, and physical characteristics and family information, including children and health histories. You will also have the opportunity to see pictures of both donors as children, if available. Our embryo coordinator will work with you to present a potential profile for review based on your request form before you make a decision.

  • Era will perform frozen embryo transfers on patients up to 55 years of age. Medical clearance will be required for all patients over age 45, which includes a visit with a maternal fetal medicine specialist, cardiology consult with EKG, and proof of up to date cancer screening (pap smear, mammogram, colonoscopy). You are able to receive an embryo even after going through menopause, as long as you still have a uterus.

  • As long as embryos are frozen in liquid nitrogen, embryos can remain frozen for decades prior to transfer. The longest an embryo has been frozen and later resulted in a living, healthy child has been 30 years.

  • No, at the time of embryo selection, all embryos that are available for you to choose from are embryos that have already been transferred to Era and are property of Era. The legal forms the genetic families sign are legally binding. The intended parents will be the only ones listed on the birth certificate.

  • At Era, we only accept embryos we would feel 100% comfortable in transferring. Meaning, we only will be willing to transfer good quality, blastocyst, euploid embryos which are frozen via vitrification. As all embryo transfers occur at Fora Fertility, you can trust that you will receive state of the art fertility care by leading double board certified fertility doctors. Many people who complete fertility treatment have numerous high quality embryos that stay frozen awaiting disposition, all embryos accepted at Era have had extensive review of the records to make sure they meet our standards.

  • Most embryo donation through Era is non-identified. In these circumstances, neither the donor nor the recipient will have access to the identity of either party. Some donors and recipients are open to or prefer identified (directed) donation. In this case, donors and recipients are known to eachother. Please note - due to FDA screening, psych and legal requirements with identified donors, there is an extra cost for this option.

  • No, the FDA requires all females and males who donate their embryos to be tested for sexually transmitted diseases prior to the IVF cycle where the embryos were created. To date, there has been no transfer of sexually transmitted infection via embryo transfer.

  • Traditional adoption has decreased substantially and currently less than 2% of single pregnant women place their child for adoption. Most adoption agencies have many more potential adoptive parents than children and many families wait years for an available infant. Embryo adoption is helping more people have families.

  • Yes, known, directed or identified embryo adoption is permitted through Era, as long as the embryo(s) still meet our guidelines for transfer. There will be an added expense to identified donation as there are more FDA requirements and you will have to be willing to complete further screening if required.

  • No, embryos for the Era Embryo program are accepted from all over the US as long as our standards are met and the embryos are of good quality. However, all patients who receive adopted embryos must become patients at Fora Fertility and travel to Austin, Texas for the embryo transfer. Era embryos are not permitted to be transferred to other labs at that time.