“Hey, I got a really good deal on embryos on Craigslist the other day.”
Hopefully this story from Iowa is not a harbinger of things to come. Two couples, in Chicago and Florida, found their embryos through a Craigslist discussion group from an Des Moines couple who had 18 spare embryos. Deb and Kevin McCrea gave 9 to each couple for free, saving them thousands of dollars in IVF treatment.
The McCreas still want to keep in touch with their biological children and have asked the couples to agree to yearly reports and occasional visits – a novel kind of open adoption.
Mrs McCrea told the local TV station that she had considered giving the embryos to the IVF clinic, but she had some misgivings. “We went into give life and just because the doctor chose the two that we got doesn’t mean the other 18 shouldn’t have a chance at life also,” she reflected.
“One day I was just looking on Craigslist and I saw that they had a discussion forum,” she said, “and I thought why don’t I look on here and see if there’s anybody that’s in that process right now that might be interested in donating and having more of an open adoption of the embryos.” She was astonished at the response she received.