The Embryo Adoption Podcast

It’s incredibly important for families going through embryo adoption or embryo donation to have a “safe space” where they can connect, ask questions, swap stories, and share information. That’s why the NEDC Embryo Adoption/Donation Group on Facebook is such a blessing. If you’ve walked either route with the NEDC, or are currently in process, you should join! In this episode of The Embryo Adoption Podcast, administrators Bethany Piechowski and Julie Garber take a deep dive into what the group’s all about and how it can make a difference for you. Some helpful time stamps are below:

:53 History of the group and how it formed

2:25 Purpose of the group

5:41 How administrators work to make sure only people who meet the criteria are accepted into the group

7:21 Most common topics discussed among members in the group

9:33 How God has worked in beautiful ways through the group

12:46 What the group is not for

15:06 Why it’s important to have a “safe” discussion space outside the official NEDC purview

20:46 How & why administrators of the group maintain a connection to the NEDC

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Jason & Jen have a heart for the vulnerable. That's led them to explore both foster care/adoption and embryo adoption. In fact, they're doing both at the same time! Here's their journey, which gives real hope to those of you who may feel called to both, but wonder if you have the capacity to handle it all. Below are some helpful timestamps:

:36 Jason & Jen on the six children they’ve fostered (three of whom they’ve adopted)

2:10 How their faith informs their heart for orphan care & adoption

5:15 Learning to handle the difficult emotional aspects of fostering children

8:14 How embryo adoption came onto their radar and why they wanted to do it

11:11 How Jen’s pregnancy is going

13:57 Were they ever worried they couldn’t handle foster care & embryo adoption? What would they say to others with that concern?

16:22 Similarities in the ways foster care & embryo adoption spoke to their hearts

19:54 What does the future look like for them in terms of adoption?

Open embryo adoption can be a beautiful thing. This episode gives you a firsthand glimpse from embryo recipients David & Laura George and their embryo donors Gerard & Nicole Straka. Below are some helpful timestamps:

2:00-3:51   What factors were important to adopters David & Laura in the donor selection process

4:04-5:28  How donors Nicole & Gerard’s fertility journey played out

5:51-10:33  Nicole & Gerard on how they agonized over what to do with their frozen embryos, and how a canceled credit card saved their embryos’ chances at life outside the womb.

11:27-16:39  What the mediation process was like for the open adoption

17:20-18:00  What it was like for the donors to see their embryos results in babies born

18:42-22:33  How David & Laura felt when their children were born

23:20-29:15  What their open relationship looks like today

29:53-30:40  What Colt, the donors’ teenage son, thinks of the open adoption relationship

If you choose to do an open embryo adoption through the National Embryo Donation Center, how do you work out contact with the family on the other end of the match? The answer: Through something called an Open Donation Agreement, or ODA. Here's your chance to learn all about that. Plus: Why do adopting NEDC families need to have their home studies reviewed? Lauren Wilson and Amy Ferguson from our partners at Flourish Consulting LLC are giving detailed insight into these parts of the process in this episode of The Embryo Adoption Podcast. 

Ben and Nazli wish they would have learned about embryo adoption a decade earlier than they did. It could've saved them a lot of heartache. But they've accepted that God had His reasons for letting the timing of their journey work out as it did. In this episode, meet them and their miracle baby Kavi, and benefit from their takeaways about finding hope, wholeness and strength amid the turmoil of infertility.

If you've experienced the trauma of infertility, pregnancy loss, or the loss of a child, Blessed Brokenness is a tremendous resource that could prove to be a great source of comfort and support. In this episode, meet the co-founder as well as an NEDC embryo adoption couple helping lead the ministry.

As they walk the road of embryo adoption, Todd and Glory are being very intentional about selecting embryos less likely to be picked. Learn more about the different types of special consideration embryos available through the National Embryo Donation Center, along with the factors that helped this family make its choice. Glory, who grew up in a missionary family, also explains how this desire to help the most vulnerable took root through the deep impressions formed by what she saw in an overseas orphanage.

NEDC Family, we're inviting your personalized prayers for embryo adoption couple Ken & Yuliya and their extended family in Ukraine. Ken & Yuliya join Mark to share how the war in Ukraine is affecting them and their relatives in this special edition of The Embryo Adoption Podcast. 

In this episode, Casey unpacks how a Google search led her to embryo adoption, describes the process of transferring a "clump of cells" that are now her 8-year-old son, and shares how her infertility journey has moved her to help lead a mentoring program for women going through crisis pregnancies.

Jeremiah & Carrie felt their hearts being pulled toward embryo adoption. But before taking the leap, they wisely sought counsel from trusted voices who'd already walked the path. In this episode, Jeremiah & Carrie unpack their journey, including some of the unique challenges and blessings of adopting embryos as Asian Americans. Plus they have some exciting news to share!