Here's an interesting topic-Embryo Adoption. I became aware of this just a few weeks ago during an episode of CSI in which a woman who was killed had a baby whose DNA did not match her's, and they could not figure out why, until they searched her medical records and discovered that she had adopted an embryo. I then ran into the topic again in the course of researching a project for a presentation I am giving in an anatomy class on infertility.

With all the talk about embryonic stem cells and whether it is ethical to destroy the embryo's for research, or whether they are people and it amounts to murder, etc. etc., adoption of these embryos appears to be an alternative that results in life. Well, some of the time. Only about 2/3 of the embryos survived thawing. Only 10 of these in the study resulted in successful pregnancies, and that was out of the several hundred that survived the thaw. Where do they come from? Well, every time a couple undergoes in vitro fertilization, there are many embryos made and if the couple conceives, the leftover ones remain frozen. There is a push now for people to donate these leftover embryos for adoption by other couples who are also having fertility issues. Most people, when asked, agreed that this was a good idea. In practice, however, the results are much lower, with only about 10% of couples actually donating their leftover embryos, which otherwise would sit frozen until they were no longer viable, and then would be discarded. Why don't people do it? Because it's hard to picture your biological child being raised in a different family, that's why. Because your children would have a biological brother or sister out there that they didn't even know about. These are the main reasons that people don't do it, and I have to admit that they are good ones. I don't think I'd be able to do it either.

This leads to another interesting & related point. Most conservatives are against the aforementioned embryonic stem cell research. Have any of these same people undergone in vitro fertilization? It seems that they would be in an interesting situation where they would be creating embryos, from which there would most likely be leftovers. If they are leftover, they will just be frozen and never used, and eventually tossed when they are no longer viable. So, if they are going to die anyways, why not use them for stem cell research? And if not, how can you have them created, yet not use them and let them "die" from unuse. Their destiny would be the same if they were used for research. I don't really don't know what would be right. Embryonic adoption would be their only option that would keep their beliefs aligned. I'm not sure where I stand on this whole topic....Let me know what you think!