Every day, men and women around the world are doing their part to champion embryo adoption and lead couples toward it.
This often goes unnoticed, apart from a few flash-in-the-pan, breathless TV news segments that marvel at the process of bringing a baby to term that is not the parents’ biological offspring.
It’s one of the many reasons I’m so pleased to have met some true embryo adoption champions on my journey to publishing “Frozen, But Not Forgotten”.
Two recent examples come to mind. Dr. Marisa López-Teijón is CEO at Institut Marquès, an assisted reproduction center and driver of the first European embryo adoption program. People come from across Europe and beyond to undergo the frozen embryo transfer process at her clinic.
About my book, she wrote: “Nate and Julie showed an immense love and generosity when they adopted the embryo of their little Phoebe. However, it is even more admirable that they have now decided to share their experience. We could write a book filled with love, devotion and gratitude to life from every child born thanks to the adoption of embryos.”
Gratitude to life, indeed. And might I add gratitude to God for making the adoption process possible in the first place, and for leading parents who have experienced in vitro fertilization to take the truly heroic step of placing their embryo babies for adoption.
I also have had the privilege of corresponding with Daniel J. Hurst, Ph.D., Cahaba Family Medicine Residency. He graciously perused “Frozen, But Not Forgotten” and provided the following endorsement:
“Embryo adoption is simply not discussed in the church today, leading to scant Christian resources and bewilderment. Nate Birt has written a storyline on his family’s adoptive process that is captivating. This unique and practical book is a timely resource to equip church leaders and prospective adoptive parents to walk through this confusing subject with sound wisdom.”
Mr. Hurst is exactly right. When Julie and I adopted Phoebe, we didn’t have a stack of books to build our journey on, nor did we have a long list of detailed materials on the morality or biology of embryo adoption. Yet this topic is going to become increasingly important — and morally urgent — as we become more adept at reproductive technology outside of natural means.
Every human life matters. I’m grateful to Dr. López-Teijón and Mr. Hurst for recognizing the need to link arms and tell this story to the Christian community and the world.