Embryo Donation International Has Finally ARRIVED!!!
This is big news and something PVED is very very excited about!
Embryo Donation International (EDI), one of the few, non-faith-based, non-discriminatory embryo donation facilities in the United States, officially opened today to provide cost-effective embryo donation options to people around the globe desiring to build a family. This program is based out of Fort Myers, Florida and was founded by Dr. Craig R. Sweet in 2011 as an expansion of their 10 year-old embryo donation program (sometimes incorrectly referred to as embryo adoption), they are one of the most experienced and cost-effective embryo donation centers in the United States.
EDI’s dedicated mission is to reduce the number of frozen embryos abandoned or discarded by matching embryos to patients in need regardless of race, religion, ancestry, sexual preference or marital status. EDI is a subdivision of Specialists In Reproductive Medicine & Surgery, P.A. (SRMS), which has been providing embryo donation for 10 years as well as compassionate reproductive endocrine and infertility care for over 20 years.
“Our first public discussion on this sensitive topic took place during the week after ‘9-11’ in 2001,” said Dr. Craig R. Sweet, EDI Founder, Medical Director and board certified physician in Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility. “When so many lives were lost, we spoke about the unclaimed potential life held in cryopreservation within our practice due to abandonment. Today’s announcement is the result of our passionate advocacy for pairing frozen embryos with patients in need based on EDI’s ethical values of nondiscrimination and our core belief that embryos deserve a heightened level of respect and should not be abandoned or discarded.”
In 2003, the nonprofit research institution RAND estimated there were at least 400,000 embryos cryopreserved in the United States (Fertility & Sterility, May 2003, Vol. 79, No. 5). EDI’s goal is to encourage patients to use their embryos to expand their own families but otherwise consider embryo donation rather than abandonment or discarding them.
For more information about the company’s history, philosophy, services and devoted staff, you can contact Dr. Sweet at 800.334.2184, 239.275.5728 or visit www.EmbryoDonation.com.
Craig R. Sweet, M.D.
Thank you very much for helping to get the word out regarding embryo donation. Most specific to your readers, there seems to be a great deal of confusion regarding the use of egg donor-generated cryopreserved embryos for embryo donation.
Our protocol is to ask if there were stipulations regarding what type of patients the donor was willing to donate to (i.e married or unmarried). We promise to honor these stipulations if we are able to obtain documentation. We also request the paperwork indicating if the egg donor consented to potentially having their oocytes used for embryo donation. We will be diligent, but we have found obtaining both sets of documentation a challenge.
The FDA, which regulates embryo donation, does not require any of the above. The American Society of Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) states that the above paperwork should be successfully obtained. Understand, however, that these are guidelines and not law.
At Embryo Donation International, we feel that these embryos belong to the egg recipient and that the recipient has the legal right to decide what to do with them. We do not feel that the embryos should be discarded simply because we are unable to obtain the requested paperwork. We appreciate the guidelines put forth by ASRM, but we feel the greater good is served for both patients and embryos by donating and transferring them to build families.
As owners of the embryos, egg recipients are able to make the ultimate decision to discard their embryos. If the recipients have that legal power, why is it questioned if they have the legal authority to donate them?
If we can help any of your members find closure by donating their embryos to other patients suffering from infertility, we are here to help. We promise to take the very best care of their embryos and to find a wonderful home for them.
Thanks again for the post and appreciate the space explaining how we might help some of your members.
Keep up the great work!
Craig R. Sweet, M.D.
Reproductive Endocrinologist
Medical & Laboratory Director
Embryo Donation International
Info@EmbryoDonation.com
http://www.EmbryoDonation.com