Family Forum / Parenting / Adoption / July 2007

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Why wait, adopt an embryo now
Aditya Ghosh

At what age is a child most 'adoption-ready'? For Wendy Duncan, it was
even before the first cell of life started multiplying. She adopted an
embryo from India. The Caucasian woman gave birth to a daughter - an
ethnic South Asian - in the UK after nurturing her in her womb for 36
weeks.

Embryo adoption is offering a unique opportunity to mothers to deliver
their adopted children. Also, embryo adoption is far cheaper and the
process shorter than a complete in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) cycle.

Duncan's daughter was born on June 4 and she is already planning a
visit to Mumbai for another embryo adoption. "My daughter's origin is
none of my concern - I nurtured her and delivered her," she told HT
from her home in Market Rasen town in Lincolnshire county.

Brian, her lorry driver husband, found out about facilities available
in India and contacted doctors. "Such a procedure is not possible in
the UK and there is a long queue for adoptions," she said.

Sperm and egg banks are developing embryos by fertilising sperms and
eggs in different permutations and combinations. Often, IVF
specialists develop multiple embryos for a couple going through a full
IVF cycle. After one is successfully implanted, the rest are frozen
for future use.

Indian are also realising the benefits. "People discriminate between
an adopted child and a biological offspring. Even the family members
were hard to convince. So my husband and I decided to go for this,"
said Ayesha Khanam (name changed), a Bandra resident who adopted an
embryo in October. But she refused to be photographed.