(NAPSA)—For some men and women, having a baby can be a challenge. It may take infertility treatments to help them realize their dreams of parenthood. To build their families, some couples need embryos (frozen eggs) donated by another couple who completed their infertility treatment and had remaining frozen embryos. In vitro fertilization (IVF) may produce excess embryos. During IVF, the female takes medication to stimulate production of multiple eggs for fertilization by her partner’s sperm. This often results in more embryos than are needed. Embryos not used during that treatment cycle are often frozen. Most of these embryos will be used in the future by the couple that created them. Couples choosing not to undergo additional infertility treatments are faced with the difficult question, “What should we do with our frozen embryos?” Options include donating the embryos to another infertile couple, donating them to research or not using them atall. RESOLVE: The National Infertil- ity Association, with grant support from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, has developed materials and informa- goresolve THE NATIONAL INFERTILITY ASSOCIATION Embryo donation is an important option for many experiencing infertility; new information is now available. tion to educate the general public, the infertility community and medical professionals about embryo donation. To assist those making these difficult decisions, RESOLVE has developed a checklist of questions and action items for donors and recipients to carefully consider. For example, the checklist recommends that embryo donors seek counseling and obtain information about the process in order to make an informed decision and create an appropriate legal contract with the recipients. Recipients should obtain any necessary medical or other information about the donors, and determine if a meeting with the donors is important before moving forward. For more information about embryo donation or other free edueational materials, visit the RESOLVE Web site at www.resolve. org, call RESOLVE’s HelpLine at 888-623-0744 or e-mail info@ resolve.org.
