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Embryo Adoption, Part Two

My last blog was on a relatively new type of adoption, embryo adoption. The visibility of embryo adoption will, I predict, increase quite a bit for three reasons. The increased debate about stem cells will impact people’s awareness of and beliefs about frozen embryos, which are a main source of embryonic stem cells. Some scientists say that embryonic stem cells, which have not yet differentiated into different types of tissues, will be the most useful for treating diseases (although non-embryonic stem cells, obtained from blood, umbilical cords or other tissue, have already been used to treat aplastic anemia, and other … Continue reading →

Another Type of Adoption: Embryo Adoption

Soon after I became an adoption blogger for Families.com over two years ago, I wrote blogs introducing three kinds of adoption—domestic infant adoption, adoption from the child welfare system, and international adoption. But now there is another kind of adoption: embryo adoption. “Embryo adoption” or “Embryo donation” is when a couple donates unused embryos that were created and frozen during infertility treatment to another couple. These embryos are transferred to the womb of the recipient mother. Technically this is not “adoption” at all in most states, since most states agree that the legal mother of a child is the mother … Continue reading →

Book Review: Making Sense of Adoption by Lois Ruskai Melina

Lois Melina’s Making Sense of Adoption is unique in that it deals with questions asked not only by adoptees from traditional adoptions, but by children and young people conceived using assisted reproduction techniques such as egg or sperm donation or surrogacy. These persons also, whether a legal adoption proceeding took place or not, must deal with knowing that they either have genetic parents who are not the parents raising them, or that they were born to someone other than their birthmothers. Melina, an adoptive parent of two, is the author of Raising Adopted Children and has been a frequent writer … Continue reading →

Media Review: Opposing Viewpoints: Adoption

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The Opposing Viewpoints Series from Greenhaven Press is a series I have long admired as a student, citizen and prospective educator. The series contains over 90 books ranging from Abortion to Welfare Reform. The series has been in existence for 25 years but is frequently updated. Each book organizes itself around four or five main questions relating to a topic. The editors seek out both prominent and lesser-known voices on various sides to give opinions from multiple viewpoints. So what is controversial about adoption? More than you might think. Some essays in the book directly oppose each other. The first … Continue reading →

Embryo Adoption

The subject of embryo adoption has been getting a lot of attention lately, as a result of the debate about embryonic stem cell research. The debate about what to do with all the embryos in freezers in fertility clinics around the country rages on. One solution that is offered can actually help couples experiencing infertility issues. Embryos are often put up for adoption as a result of another couple’s infertility treatments. Sometimes a couple gets pregnant and has too many embryos left over. These sit in a freezer in a fertility clinic. If the couple decides they are done having … Continue reading →

Surrogacy

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How far would you go to have a baby of your own? How much money would you spend? Would you travel to the other side of the world? Would you spend $35,000? Before I had my son, I would have scoffed at the idea, but now I know I would give up all my money and travel to the ends of the earth for him. Children make all the sacrifices worth it. For one couple in Michigan, many sacrifices were made and a lot of money was spent to bring their baby home. Married for over two decades, Victor and … Continue reading →

More People-Watching (Reading)

Last week I wrote about Katherine Heigl’s newly adopted daughter, who is ten months old and was adopted from Korea. The same issue of People which told that story (The October 5 issue) has several other adoption-related stories, like the update on the teenage couple who placed their baby for adoption—and had the process chronicled on MTV’s reality show, 16 and Pregnant. I will summarize that article in my next blog. Two other stories in the issue are relevant to adoption, although not directly about it. The first of these is a profile of a mother and daughter. The 12-year-old … Continue reading →

IVF Gone Wrong

Did you catch Meredith Vieira’s interview with Carolyn and Sean Savage on the Today show yesterday? The couple are parents to three other children, and have had multiple difficulties with conception and pregnancy. With five remaining embryos, they implanted one in the hopes of conceiving a fourth child. When the doctor called, they received the best and the worst news, all rolled into one. Carolyn was pregnant, but the doctors had made a terrible mistake. They implanted the wrong embryo and Carolyn was forced to make a heart wrenching decision. She could either terminate the pregnancy or carry it to … Continue reading →

The Confessions of a Pro-Life, Right Wing Conservative, Part 1

The other day Pattie wrote an article asking (or really telling us) that there are Christians on both sides of the fence and being liberal or conservative doesn’t a Christian make. What has ensued is an interesting conversations therein in her comments section. I’m actually going to address her article in two parts. However, the right to life debate is often at the forefront of election debates and it is, arguably one of the first things many conservative Christians want to know when choosing a candidate. Dare I say it? Many of you conservative Christians out there vote based on … Continue reading →

Politics 101: McCain’s Platform Continued

Yesterday, we started looking at McCain’s platform in overview. We will continue today looking at John McCain and the issues that he is talking about as he campaigns. *Immigration–McCain supports strengthening our borders so that immigrants cannot enter the country illegally. He also supports assimilating those who are already here by programs that encourage learning English, American History and government, civics and democracy. McCain also wants to build strong alliances with Mexico and countries in Latin America who are opposed to the ideals espoused by Hugo Chavez. *Lobbying and Ethics Reform–As a senator, McCain has often lobbied for guidelines and … Continue reading →