Embryos: Cold as Ice

Researchers from Duke and Johns Hopkins universities asked more than two thousand IVF patients what they would like to do with their unused embryos. More than twelve hundred responded, and here’s a look at their info:

• 49% preferred to donate them to science.
• 60% (63% of the women, 51% of the men) preferred to donate them for stem cell research.
• 22% were somewhat or very likely to donate them to another couple
• 22% preferred to destroy the embryos.

What happens to unused embryos in other countries?

Germany: Legal maximum of eggs collected in IVF is three. All embryos created must be transferred to uterus.

Denmark: Embryos may be stored for 2 years. Stem cell research and treatment allowed. Embryo donation to another couple, illegal.

Australia: Allows embryos frozen for up to two years, donated to another couple, or destroyed.

Belgium: Allows embryo stores for up to five years, donated to a couple, or destroyed.

UK: Usually destroyed after 5 years.

Italy: Prohibits destruction of embryos. Legal maximum of eggs collected in IVF is three. All embryos must be transferred to uterus.

Spain: Legal to freeze embryos but illegal to destroy or donate them to research. Because most couples prefer not to donate to other patients, 50,000 embryos now sit frozen.