Can’t conceive? Couples will soon be able to knock on the door of the Medisch Centrum Kinderwens in Leiderdorp, South Holland to adopt an embryo. Two couples have already agreed to give up their frozen embryos, left over from IVF attempts. According to director and gynaecologist Marinus Crooij, his clinic is the first in the Netherlands to offer this type of adoption. A woman simply becomes the surrogate of her adoptive child.

Giving away embryos in the Netherlands is not forbidden, but does not happen very often. The Embryo Act says donors may not remain anonymous and their details must be registered with the Stichting Donorregistratie, the Dutch donor registry. “When a child is 16, they have the right to know who their ‘genetic’ parents are. Not everyone agrees with this”, explains Crooij. In Great Britain and the US this type of adoption is already common place. “If you accept adoption, you have to accept this as well. It is comparable. Moreover, these children are wanted from the very start, which is not the case with ordinary adoption.”

(Link: Gerderlander)