The Business of Infertility

A recent video created on German TV (in English with German subtitles) for a series focusing on infertility features an interview Jennifer Lahl, the founder and president of the Center for Bioethics and Culture Network. In the interview, Lahl takes us inside the $6.5 billion+ business of infertility, an ever growing industry in the U.S. and abroad.

Lahl, a former pediatric nurse, says in the interview she is a strong advocate for women and children and believes the infertility industry needs increased regulation. While she states she’s not a critic of fertility clinics, egg donors or surrogates, Lahl explains she is a strong advocate for further education for families going through the infertility process as well as the resulting children.

Among the other issues Lahl addresses are the unknown effects of fertility treatments and the need for openness with donor conceived children.

To watch Lahl’s full interview, visit 3sat.de.

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Learning Opportunities On-Demand

For the past three years, the Awareness Center has brought you (adopters, donors, fertility clinics, adoption agencies, lawyers, Ob/Gyn’s and counselors) monthly webinars focusing on any and all topics surrounding Embryo Adoption. While typically, our webinars are offered as live events, the EAAC has now created archives all of our events, available to you any time, any place.

To top it all off, we have recently updated our archive pages to include newest webinars from April including “Minimizing Clinic Liability and Risk” as well as “How Do We Tell The Kids???”

Don’t miss your opportunity to learn the important topics of embryo donation and adoption from your home computer, on your time for a total cost of $0.00.

The Gift of Family - the Day We Donated Our Embryos Part 2

The following is written by Lindsay Alford and edited by the Awareness Center for the purpose of this blog. 

In Part 1 of our story we learned of Lindsay's struggles to achieve pregnancy and her choice to pursue adoption. 

Our clinic only offered closed adoptions. We weren't cool with that either. We want these children to have access to their full medical history, where they came from, what they may look like and most importantly, that they've always been wanted.

After several months of paperwork and doctor appointments, we ended up going with an open adoption through Snowflakes. We fell in love with a couple from Kansas City. They have an amazing love story but there’s something missing. They want to be parents and have been trying for 10 years. Today, her doctor thawed the three remaining embryos, one didn't make it, but the other two looked great and were transferred.

Creating a Lifebook Story for Your Children

You think your kids have the most beautiful story of how they came to be. You want them to know how much you loved them… even before you met them as embryos. You want them to know and love their own story.

But how will you share this story with them?

You need some tools to help you. You've already got a couple of books, but perhaps you want something more, well, personal. (After all, the way your kids came into this world was very unique.)

So you decide to create a Lifebook. You gather all your memorabilia and lots and lots of pictures from your embryo adoption journey:

Pictures of you and your husband as a couple, desiring kids.

Pictures of the clinic that your embryos were created at,

Pictures of the embryos that became your kids,

Awareness Center Online Educational Classes

The Awareness is excited to offer a pair of exciting webinars in May focusing on two very important issues. We would love to have you join us as we explore two issues commonly face by embryo donors and adopters.

Infertility Counseling Close-Up: Husbands Wives & Partners on the Same Page: May 15, 2013

Most counseling professionals agree husbands and wives should be on the same page when pursing traditional adoption and it should be no different with embryo adoption. However, the issues that must be explored and discussed can be different. Simultaneously, couples who have completed their family building process through In Vitro Fertilization and who have remaining embryos often differ regarding the final disposition of those embryos. Join us as our counseling experts share from their professional experience and discover how to assist your clients in solving differences prior to their embryo donation or adoption.

Register Today!