Snowflakes Updates

50 Benefits of Snowflakes

 

Why work with the Snowflakes Embryo Adoption Program? People who are inquiring about placing or adopting embryos for achieving a pregnancy are often confused about using an embryo adoption agency or a fertility clinic. Is the Snowflakes program right for you? After you read through this list, call us. Our knowledgeable staff will listen and answer your questions about placement or adoption.

1. Established in 1997, the Snowflakes program is the oldest and most experienced embryo adoption agency in the world.
2. The program was established to assist families with remaining embryos select an adopting family for them.
3. We accept all embryos regardless of quality or quantity.
4. Snowflakes provides a positive option for adoption an infant and a shorter timeline.
5. Over 650 babies have been born into adopting families through the Snowflakes program.
6. We receive new sets of embryo donations every week.
7. As needed, we help families connect with a counselor to discuss their embryo placement.
8. Our streamlined processes insure accurate and quick services.
9. We always have embryos available for matching.
10. Our placing parents are required to follow FDA rules and regulations for embryo placement.
11. Snowflakes has an easy to use access system for infectious disease testing, required by the FDA.
12. Our adopting families are all evaluated by a rigorous home study process.
13. The time-tested Snowflakes processes provide both placing an adopting family’s peace-of-mind.
14. The cost of our program has not increased in over 10 years!
15. Our agency, Nightlight Christian Adoptions, has been in business for 60+ years and we apply the best practices of adoption to our Snowflakes program.
16. Our team consistently receives high survey scores for listening and caring for you.
17. We accept all applications without discrimination.
18. Our team provides inquirers with a balance of truth and hope.
19. We encourage open communications between placing and adopting families.
20. Our requirement to collect medical records adds to the security of the placement.
21. We provide our families with a secure listening ear and a safe place to grieve.
22. Regular examinations and changes to our program processes speed you to your goal.
23. We are people of integrity who care about providing you with high quality service.
24. Surveys of families who have completed the program give the highest ratings 98% of the time.
25. Snowflakes team members are always seeking ways to improve the program.
26. We provide education to our clients, doctors, clinics and other adoption agencies.
27. Placement and adoption are paper-intensive services and our team helps you identify and complete all necessary documents to keep you moving forward.
28. Our contracts are legally sound for the placement of embryos from one family to another.
29. Our team does not use computer-generated matching, but matches based on family preferences and profiles.
30. Our pre-matching interview confirms your preferences in a match; no matches are ever forced.
31. We do not allow for closed or anonymous adoptions—both placing and adopting families have the security of knowledge.
32. A frequent refrain from our matched families is “it was a perfect match!”
33. Our care toward your family continues with assistance even after the placement/adoption is final.
34. We manage all aspects of embryo placement, including the possibility of what happens to remaining embryos in the adopting family.
35. Snowflakes maintains a permanent record of the placements and adoptions.
36. All-inclusive, competent, and valuable services at a low-cost.
37. Snowflakes maintains a positive, world-wide reputation.
38. Our team provides personal service and timely communications.
39. We have positive relationships with fertility clinics throughout the U.S.
40. Many of our referrals for both placing and adopting families are from their doctor or clinic.
41. We provide resources to support clients before, during, and after the placement or adoption.
42. Our adopting families receive three generations of placing family medical history.
43. We provide assistance in finding positive options for all inquirers.
44. The Snowflakes program offers a holistic approach to the placement and adoption of remaining frozen embryos.
45. Nightlight is a child-centric agency, focused on assisting the placing parents, the adopting parents, and the full-genetic siblings in both families.
46. We help families connect with one another helping them leave a legacy to their children.
47. We encourage direct communication between families for the sake of all parties involved: children and adults.
48. When necessary we are able to coordinate communication between families who are working to build a future direct communications relationship.
49. Our team prays for and with our families every week.
50. Snowflakes coordinates and arranges for safe shipment of embryos between storage facilities.

 

Want to know more about Snowflakes? Give us a call at 970-663-6799 and ask for our experienced inquiry specialists who will walk you through the adoption process. You can also email us at info@snowflakes.org. With the Snowflakes program, you CAN give birth to you adopted child!

 

–The Snowflakes Team

Ellen and Tim Van Treuren: An Embryo Adoption Journey

One of the best ways to learn about the embryo adoption journey is to hear about the experiences of someone who has taken this approach to overcoming their infertility challenges. Ellen and Tim Van Treuren are one couple that decided embryo adoption was the right path for them to start the family they had dreamed of. And, as a wonderful gift to other couples who are considering embryo adoption, they chronicled their journey in a series of videos.

The Van Treurens begin with their introduction to Nightlight Christian Adoptions and the Embryo Adoption Program, and their homestudy experience. Ellen and Tim describe the incredible opportunity that embryo adoption provides to couples struggling with infertility, but also the challenges they faced. They share their experience with the matching consultation, getting matched and submitting adoption contracts.

They also recorded a video breaking down the shipping process. In another, Ellen and Tim provide details on the pre-transfer process they went through to prepare for their first transfer attempt, and then a post-transfer update. They go on to share their heartache after a failed first transfer, but then show determination leading up to the pre-transfer process for their second attempt. Finally, they give viewers the exciting news of a successful transfer, Ellen’s pregnancy and the impending birth of their baby boy!

The Van Treurens also answer the most frequently asked questions from people who have viewed their recordings or heard about their embryo adoption journey in an FAQ video.

Learn more about Nightlight Christian Adoptions and the Snowflakes Embryo Adoption and Donation Program by watching these interesting and informative videos and by visiting our website at www.Snowflakes.org.

What is an Open Adoption Plan?

Is contact with placing families important in an embryo adoption match? How do you establish an open adoption? The Hendersons and Gassmans are embryo placing and adopting families who were matched through the Snowflakes Embryo Adoption Program. Listen as the two couples tell their open adoption story and the steps they purposefully made to build trust and love into their new family tree.

There is much fear and uncertainty regarding choosing an open adoption plan. These two families share with you their determination to overcome fear, resulting in great relationships for their children and for themselves.

18 Year Old Embryo Becomes a “Snowflake Baby” for Colorado Couple

There are few things more difficult emotionally than the inability to conceive a child.

For a couple in Parker, they had nearly given up hope of having a second baby after a reproductive health complication made it too difficult for them to conceive naturally.

That discouragement faded when Elizabeth and Marty Wilson learned about the Snowflakes Embryo Adoption program. 

The program, established in 1997 by Nightlight Christian Adoptions, works to help couples donating their embryos find the right match.

“A couple in California had a few embryos left over after doing IVF and instead of discarding them, they chose to donate them,” Elizabeth said, “And we are so grateful we were a match.”

That embryo was kept frozen for nearly 18 years in a plastic tube before being matched with the couple.

The Wilson’s fertility doctors assured them that the frozen embryo had the same chance at life as a new embryo.

“Baby Marley has quite the birth story with a twist” Elizabeth said “She was FedEx’d to us!”

About 9 months after a successful embryo transfer, Elizabeth gave birth to Marley Jade on June 3, 2016.

Read the original 9News KUSA story here.

Embryo Quality: Choosing Life

How important is embryo quality? There are a variety of methods used by medical professionals to grade frozen human embryos, projecting the likelihood of pregnancy success. However, many healthy children have been born from embryos given a poor quality rating by the medical community. Dr. Jeffrey Nelson of HRC Fertility helps us gain some understanding about this frequently misunderstood topic.

These videos were produced by Nightlight Christian Adoptions and supported by grant #1EAAPA151027 from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the Department.

Webinar: Embryo Adoption: Dispelling the Myths

Webinar: Embryo Adoption: Dispelling the Myths

Couples who have been unsuccessful at IVF will also not have success if they try to adopt an embryo. True or False? Parents don’t need to tell their children that they came from a donor conception. Adoption agencies charge exorbitant fees for embryo adoption services, the same cost as IVF. What is the truth? Let’s uncover the facts about these questions and more – ranging from the cost of an embryo adoption to the quality of embryos required by clinics assisting embryo adoptions around the country.

Webinar: The Affordable and Accessible Adoption Choice

Webinar: The Affordable and Accessible Adoption Choice

Is it possible that embryo adoption will be the solution that brings a sweet baby into your loving arms? Are you frustrated by the high cost of in vitro fertilization? Heartbroken by your IVF treatment failures? Embryo donation and adoption is a proven successful process allowing families with remaining embryos to donate them to another family that is desiring to experience pregnancy and childbirth. We invite you to come and learn more about this amazing adoption choice which has allowed over 10,000 babies to be born. This presentation was highlighted during the 2017 American Fertility Expo.

Snowflakes Pages

Nightlight Christian Adoptions is in the process of building some new pages to highlight our Snowflakes embryo adoption and donation processes. Stay tuned for easy to access information.