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Adoption, Not Donation
Exploring Embryo Adoption By Tracy Doerr
Doni Brinkman and her husband, Jim,of Phoenix, Ariz., married in 1994 and were very eager to start a family. After a year of trying to conceive, the couple began to seek out the cause of their infertility. In 1997, they were told that they were not likely to conceive a child without medical assistance and were advised to consider IVF or to pursue adoption.
"Devastation could not adequately describe the depth of emotion we experienced," Brinkman says. "Since childhood, my life goal was to be a mother. I remember days of grieving so intensely I felt like I had to remind myself to breathe."
After several failed attempts at starting a family on their own, the Brinkmans turned to adoption, but they were disheartened with the wait time, and Doni still desperately wanted to be pregnant. "Finally, in 1999 we had a glimmer of hope," she says. "Two different friends brought me information on Nightlight Christian Adoptions Snowflake Program. When I read the literature I knew instantly that this would be the perfect opportunity for us. The fact that any children born to us would not be genetically related was never of any consequence to either of us. Families are about choice and commitment, not genes."
In February of 2000, the Brinkmans were notified that they had been chosen. Six months later, three embryos were thawed. Two survived the process and were implanted into Doni's uterus. One of those embryos went on to become the Brinkmans' dream come true. "We will be attempting another transfer in May of this year, and I am really hoping for more little redheads!"Brinkman says.
Susan Glass and her husband, Patrick, of Monroe, N.C., know the pain of infertility. In June of 1999, they attempted IVF for the first time, and 36 embryos were cryopreserved. InJanuary 2000, 12 embryos were thawed and transferred, and the Glasses became pregnant with triplet baby girls: Mollie, Reilly and Sydney."Our lives really did change,"Glass says. "Not all couples are blessed with the children they want. Our journey through infertility made this fact even more real. We feel a kinshipwith those who really desire to have children and can't. Together we decided to contact the organization I heard about, Snowflakes, and put our remaining 15 embryos up for adoption."
