The Beginnings Counselling & Adoption Services agency located in Ontario has launched Canada’s first embryo donation service.
Infertile couples who want to have a child now have access to tens of thousands of embryos across the country. Most couples who have a successful in vitro fertilization do not know what to do with the remaining embryos.
The agency’s website explains, "In the past, options were limited to having embryos destroyed, leaving the embryos stored indefinitely, or donating embryos for medical research. But now there is another option."
The donation service was launched even though the Supreme Court of Canada has yet to rule on certain parts of the Assisted Human Reproduction Act. Fertility centres are not destroying embryos while they await a ruling.
At Beginnings agency, donor couples can choose the couple who will receive their embryo from among a selection made by the clinic. They may also meet them and check out their criminal record if they wish.
It costs $13,500, not including legal and medical bills, for a couple to receive an embryo. This is the first clinic to offer this service officially; many others already do so anonymously.