From KL..

http://www.cbn.com/CBNNews/News/041011a.asp

Embryo Adoption: Giving Babies a Second Chance at Life

By Wendy Griffith
CBN News Sr. Reporter

October 11, 2004



CBN.com -- Embryo adoption is a phrase that often causes quizzical looks from
those who have never heard of it. Embryos are often talked about in terms of
their value in medical research, but more and more couples are discovering
embryo adoption --not only to save embryos from destruction, but also to help
build the families they have always dreamed about.

Eight-month-old twins Savannah and Morgan are the delight of their parents Jeff
and Danette Gillingham of California. The Gillinghams were desperate to start a
family, but were unable to conceive naturally. So they prayerfully decided to
try frozen embryo adoption.

They adopted embryos from three different families, and on the third try, they
had success. Danette became pregnant with twin girls.

"They're gorgeous, and they're healthy, and a joy, full of life, and just so
perfect," said Danette. "I mean they're human beings, they're babies. They were
frozen. And to look at them now and think that’s what they were, it just
boggles your mind."

She went on, "They were frozen five years ago, so they were conceived five
years ago, and have been basically waiting in this frozen orphanage for a
chance at life.”

Danett’s husband Jeff said, “…I think, to state it simply, in my opinion,
words can’t express the blessings of God these girls are.…” He paused as
tears came to his eyes. Then went on, “I love my girls...I love 'em."

In America alone, experts say some 400,000 frozen embryos are being stored in
hospitals and infertility clinics. They are basically leftovers from couples
who have undergone in-vitro fertilization in their attempts to have children.
Statistics show only about half of those 400,000 embryos would survive being
thawed. Of the 200,000 that would survive the thawing process, researchers say
only about 12-15 percent of these babies would actually live. So, that's about
50,000 potential babies.

Rod Stoddart is Executive Director of Nightlight Christian Adoption in
California, near Los Angeles. He began the country’s first embryo adoption
program about six years ago and named it Snowflakes.

"An embryo is not an egg, not a sperm; it's a baby. It's a baby at its very
earliest stage of development. But it's a baby, and the idea of destroying it
is the same as abortion," said Stoddart.

Although there are embryo donor programs, he prefers the term ‘adoption’
and explained why.

"We use the term adoption because we think it best serves the children. So,
when a child is growing up and they want to know what their story is, we can
tell them they were adopted, not donate. The fact is, we were all embryos at
one point, and the mission of Snowflakes is that every frozen embryo be given a
chance to be born," said Stoddart.

"Since the program began, we’ve had 56 babies that have been born," said
Laurie Maze, the Director of a Snowflakes program. "In fact, I just learned of
twins this morning that were born Monday, and we have another 18 babies that
are still due, between now and February 2005."

The fact that the fact that babies are being born from frozen embryos was never
mentioned at this year's Democratic National Convention, as Ron Reagan Junior
urged Americans to support the destruction of embryos for stem-cell research.

"No fetal tissue is involved in this process. No fetuses are created, none
destroyed. This all happens in the laboratory at the cellular level," said
Reagan.

Presidential hopeful John Kerry also denied that embryos are human life. Kerry
commented, "I think if we can save millions of lives by doing research on
something that may be destroyed anyway, that the balance is important."

With all the controversy and push for embryonic stem-cell research, Maze said
she'd like to help more people realize that “these embryos are, in fact,
pre-born children, not just little clumps of cells in a petri dish."

"The whole fight is over government funding of the research," said Stoddart.
"Private money, the vast majority of the private money, is going to adult
stem-cell research, because that's where the results are! You won't hear them
talking about how many embryos have to be destroyed in order to get an embryo
stem-cell line, not to even mention the fact that there have been zero
successes using embryo stem-cells. Zero successes!"

So why are there so many frozen embryos out there? Often during the in-vitro
process, doctors will fertilize many more eggs than are needed to implant in
the mother, mainly to save the couple's time and money, so they will not have
to go through the process again.

That is what happened to Suzanne and Bob Gray of Atlanta, Georgia. They
desperately wanted a big family. But they were shocked, during the in-vitro
process, to learn that her doctor had fertilized 23 of her eggs!

Suzanne Gray, the genetic mother of these embryos, said, “This was a crisis."
She and her husband already had four children, including a set of twins from
the in-vitro process. So, Suzanne and Bob felt their family was complete, but
they began to pray about what to do with their remaining 23 embryos.

“I actually started sending emails to adoption attorneys around the country,
just trying to find out if anyone knew of anyone who worked with embryo
adoption," said Suzanne. "One attorney in Louisiana emailed me back, and said,
try this organization called Snowflakes."

At the exact same time Suzanne was contacting Snowflakes to help find her
embryos a home, a couple in northern Virginia was also contacting Snowflakes
and wanting to adopt. Greg and Cara Vest had not been able to conceive on their
own. After three failed attempts with in-vitro fertilization, they were hoping
frozen embryo adoption would lead to the family they'd always dreamed of
having.

Snowflakes matched the two families, and Cara and Greg Vest adopted all 23 of
the Gray's embryos. Today the Vests are the proud parents of two-year-old
Jonah, the genetic child of Suzanne and Bob Gray of Atlanta.

When asked if Jonah could feel any more like their own if he was genetically
theirs, Cara Vest responded, "I can't imagine loving a child any more than I
love Jonah. I look at him and I know he's not genetically mine, but it is
almost baffling because he is my son."

Greg Vest told us, "He loves to ride the tractor. He says ‘Daddy tractor
ride.’ When I come in, that's the first thing he wants to do, every single
day, no matter if it's raining, 10 degrees out, no matter what."

"It was in his first words, Mommy, Daddy, tractor,” says Cara.

CBN News asked the Vests, "With embryo adoption, of course, you get to
experience pregnancy. How important was that option for you?"

Cara said, "For me, it was such an important aspect of it. I mean, I wanted to
experience pregnancy. I wanted to feel the child kick. I wanted to be the one
in control of what I ate, and what I was exposed to."

Suzanne Gray, Jonah's genetic mother, no longer has that control. I spoke to
her about that, "You've met Jonah, seen Jonah. What is that like for you?”

Suzanne said, "To me, when I look at Jonah, I just see God's blessing. That's
really what I see. God has so protected my heart and my husband's heart from
any kind of anguish or sadness. I look at Jonah with complete joy. My children
look at Jonah with complete joy, because they understand and we understand that
Jonah was and is, a decision for the sanctity of life."

When the Vests were asked if their children know that Jonah is their brother,
genetically their brother, Suzanne replied, “It's kind of like an ‘extended
family’ where my children call Greg and Cara, “Aunt Cara and Uncle
Chippie,” which is Greg's nick-name. They're family; it's not that they feel
like family - they are family."

Of the 23 embryos the Vests adopted, some did not survive the thawing. Jonah is
the only baby born, so far, out of those embryos. But Cara is now pregnant
again with Jonah's genetic sibling, another frozen embryo, frozen nine years
ago, at the same time Jonah was frozen. There are also three remaining frozen
embryos that Cara hopes to mother in the future.

For those not familiar with embryo adoption, this may all seem a little
strange. But the Vests see God's hand in it all. Greg said, “I would say it
goes back to the failed in-vitro attempts. We were driven toward these embryos.
If we'd been successful with those other attempts, we’d have never known
anything about the Snowflakes program."

Cara, with tears in her eyes, said, “I thank God. I can't believe He chose me
to have this amazing little guy. I mean, it's unbelievable, why did I get so
blessed, y’know?”

Jeff Gillingham said, "People ask me how many children do you guys want? I just
tell them ‘blessed is the man whose quiver is full.’ There were six kids in
my family growing up. I'm not going to limit God. God knows what we can handle,
what we have need of. So, if God wants to continue to bless, by all means, I'm
not going to stop the blessings of God.” And he added, “I think the
ultimate blessing would be that my girls know Jesus Christ, to see that."

Stoddart says as long as there is in-vitro fertilization, there are going to be
leftover embryos. He says programs like Snowflakes offer hope, not only for
these frozen little lives, but for couples who may not be able to conceive a
child any other way.

Although embryo adoption is still in its infancy, children like Savannah and
Morgan Gillingham and Jonah Vest are helping people realize that frozen embryos
are actual babies just waiting to be born.

For further information about embryo adoption, please go to the web site at
embryoadoption.com.


-------------------------
A good friend will come and bail you out of jail . . . but, a true friend will
be sitting next to you saying, "Damn . . . that was fun!"
-----Unknown

CBS isn't even editing press releases these days, I guess.

J.


Subject: Embryo Adoption: Giving Babies a Second Chance at LifePath: lobby!ngtf-m01.news.aol.com!audrey-m2.news.aol.com!not-for-mailLines: 196X-Admin: news@aol.comFrom: lilmtncbn@aol.com (LilMtnCbn)Newsgroups: alt.adoptionDate: 11 Oct 2004 22:41:33 GMTOrganization: AOL http://www.aol.comMime-Version: 1.0Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bitMessage-ID: <20041011184133.02596.00001868@mb-m13.aol.com>From KL..http://www.cbn.com/CBNNews/News/041011a.aspEmbryo Adoption: Giving Babies a Second Chance at LifeBy Wendy GriffithCBN News Sr. ReporterOctober 11, 2004CBN.com -- Embryo adoption is a phrase that often causes quizzical looks fromthose who have never heard of it. Embryos are often talked about in terms oftheir value in medical research, but more and more couples are discoveringembryo adoption --not only to save embryos from destruction, but also to helpbuild the families they have always dreamed about.Eight-month-old twins Savannah and Morgan are the delight of their parentsJeffand Danette Gillingham of California. The Gillinghams were desperate to startafamily, but were unable to conceive naturally. So they prayerfully decided totry frozen embryo adoption.They adopted embryos from three different families, and on the third try,theyhad success. Danette became pregnant with twin girls."They're gorgeous, and they're healthy, and a joy, full of life, and just soperfect," said Danette. "I mean they're human beings, they're babies. Theywerefrozen. And to look at them now and think that’s what they were, it justboggles your mind."She went on, "They were frozen five years ago, so they were conceived fiveyears ago, and have been basically waiting in this frozen orphanage for achance at life.”Danett’s husband Jeff said, “…I think, to state it simply, in my
opinion,words can’t express the blessings of God these girls are.…” He paused astears came to his eyes. Then went on, “I love my girls...I love 'em."In America alone, experts say some 400,000 frozen embryos are being stored inhospitals and infertility clinics. They are basically leftovers from coupleswho have undergone in-vitro fertilization in their attempts to have children.Statistics show only about half of those 400,000 embryos would survive beingthawed. Of the 200,000 that would survive the thawing process, researcherssayonly about 12-15 percent of these babies would actually live. So, that'sabout50,000 potential babies.Rod Stoddart is Executive Director of Nightlight Christian Adoption inCalifornia, near Los Angeles. He began the country’s first embryo adoptionprogram about six years ago and named it Snowflakes."An embryo is not an egg, not a sperm; it's a baby. It's a baby at its veryearliest stage of development. But it's a baby, and the idea of destroying itis the same as abortion," said Stoddart.Although there are embryo donor programs, he prefers the term ‘adoption’and explained why."We use the term adoption because we think it best serves the children. So,when a child is growing up and they want to know what their story is, we cantell them they were adopted, not donate. The fact is, we were all embryos atone point, and the mission of Snowflakes is that every frozen embryo be givenachance to be born," said Stoddart."Since the program began, we’ve had 56 babies that have been born," saidLaurie Maze, the Director of a Snowflakes program. "In fact, I just learnedoftwins this morning that were born Monday, and we have another 18 babies thatare still due, between now and February 2005."The fact that the fact that babies are being born from frozen embryos wasnevermentioned at this year's Democratic National Convention, as Ron Reagan Juniorurged Americans to support the destruction of embryos for stem-cell research."No fetal tissue is involved in this process. No fetuses are created, nonedestroyed. This all happens in the laboratory at the cellular level," saidReagan.Presidential hopeful John Kerry also denied that embryos are human life.Kerrycommented, "I think if we can save millions of lives by doing research onsomething that may be destroyed anyway, that the balance is important."With all the controversy and push for embryonic stem-cell research, Maze saidshe'd like to help more people realize that “these embryos are, in fact,pre-born children, not just little clumps of cells in a petri dish.""The whole fight is over government funding of the research," said Stoddart."Private money, the vast majority of the private money, is going to adultstem-cell research, because that's where the results are! You won't hear themtalking about how many embryos have to be destroyed in order to get an embryostem-cell line, not to even mention the fact that there have been zerosuccesses using embryo stem-cells. Zero successes!"So why are there so many frozen embryos out there? Often during the in-vitroprocess, doctors will fertilize many more eggs than are needed to implant inthe mother, mainly to save the couple's time and money, so they will not haveto go through the process again.That is what happened to Suzanne and Bob Gray of Atlanta, Georgia. Theydesperately wanted a big family. But they were shocked, during the in-vitroprocess, to learn that her doctor had fertilized 23 of her eggs!Suzanne Gray, the genetic mother of these embryos, said, “This was a
crisis."She and her husband already had four children, including a set of twins fromthe in-vitro process. So, Suzanne and Bob felt their family was complete, butthey began to pray about what to do with their remaining 23 embryos.“I actually started sending emails to adoption attorneys around the country,just trying to find out if anyone knew of anyone who worked with embryoadoption," said Suzanne. "One attorney in Louisiana emailed me back, andsaid,try this organization called Snowflakes."At the exact same time Suzanne was contacting Snowflakes to help find herembryos a home, a couple in northern Virginia was also contacting Snowflakesand wanting to adopt. Greg and Cara Vest had not been able to conceive ontheirown. After three failed attempts with in-vitro fertilization, they werehopingfrozen embryo adoption would lead to the family they'd always dreamed ofhaving.Snowflakes matched the two families, and Cara and Greg Vest adopted all 23 ofthe Gray's embryos. Today the Vests are the proud parents of two-year-oldJonah, the genetic child of Suzanne and Bob Gray of Atlanta.When asked if Jonah could feel any more like their own if he was geneticallytheirs, Cara Vest responded, "I can't imagine loving a child any more than Ilove Jonah. I look at him and I know he's not genetically mine, but it isalmost baffling because he is my son."Greg Vest told us, "He loves to ride the tractor. He says ‘Daddy tractorride.’ When I come in, that's the first thing he wants to do, every singleday, no matter if it's raining, 10 degrees out, no matter what.""It was in his first words, Mommy, Daddy, tractor,” says Cara.CBN News asked the Vests, "With embryo adoption, of course, you get toexperience pregnancy. How important was that option for you?"Cara said, "For me, it was such an important aspect of it. I mean, I wantedtoexperience pregnancy. I wanted to feel the child kick. I wanted to be the onein control of what I ate, and what I was exposed to."Suzanne Gray, Jonah's genetic mother, no longer has that control. I spoke toher about that, "You've met Jonah, seen Jonah. What is that like for you?”Suzanne said, "To me, when I look at Jonah, I just see God's blessing. That'sreally what I see. God has so protected my heart and my husband's heart fromany kind of anguish or sadness. I look at Jonah with complete joy. Mychildrenlook at Jonah with complete joy, because they understand and we understandthatJonah was and is, a decision for the sanctity of life."When the Vests were asked if their children know that Jonah is their brother,genetically their brother, Suzanne replied, “It's kind of like an
‘extendedfamily’ where my children call Greg and Cara, “Aunt Cara and UncleChippie,” which is Greg's nick-name. They're family; it's not that they feellike family - they are family."Of the 23 embryos the Vests adopted, some did not survive the thawing. Jonahisthe only baby born, so far, out of those embryos. But Cara is now pregnantagain with Jonah's genetic sibling, another frozen embryo, frozen nine yearsago, at the same time Jonah was frozen. There are also three remaining frozenembryos that Cara hopes to mother in the future.For those not familiar with embryo adoption, this may all seem a littlestrange. But the Vests see God's hand in it all. Greg said, “I would say itgoes back to the failed in-vitro attempts. We were driven toward theseembryos.If we'd been successful with those other attempts, we’d have never knownanything about the Snowflakes program."Cara, with tears in her eyes, said, “I thank God. I can't believe He chose
meto have this amazing little guy. I mean, it's unbelievable, why did I get soblessed, y’know?”Jeff Gillingham said, "People ask me how many children do you guys want? Ijusttell them ‘blessed is the man whose quiver is full.’ There were six kids
inmy family growing up. I'm not going to limit God. God knows what we canhandle,what we have need of. So, if God wants to continue to bless, by all means,I'mnot going to stop the blessings of God.” And he added, “I think theultimate blessing would be that my girls know Jesus Christ, to see that."Stoddart says as long as there is in-vitro fertilization, there are going tobeleftover embryos. He says programs like Snowflakes offer hope, not only forthese frozen little lives, but for couples who may not be able to conceive achild any other way.Although embryo adoption is still in its infancy, children like Savannah andMorgan Gillingham and Jonah Vest are helping people realize that frozenembryosare actual babies just waiting to be born.For further information about embryo adoption, please go to the web site atembryoadoption.com.-------------------------A good friend will come and bail you out of jail . . . but, a true friendwillbe sitting next to you saying, "Damn . . . that was fun!"-----Unknown




Reply to jmhjmd at aol.

That's CBN--Christian Broadcasting Network. It's the transcript of the
Snowflakes segment of 700 Club today. I saw a little bit of it, but the
local TBN affiliate keeps cutting out on me. It was truly loathsome to
watch..

Marley




"J." <jmdjmh@aol.compostible> wrote in message
news:20041011231944.16740.00001868@mb-m11.aol.com... CBS isn't even editing press releases these days, I guess. J.Subject: Embryo Adoption: Giving Babies a Second Chance at LifePath: lobby!ngtf-m01.news.aol.com!audrey-m2.news.aol.com!not-for-mailLines: 196X-Admin: news@aol.comFrom: lilmtncbn@aol.com (LilMtnCbn)Newsgroups: alt.adoptionDate: 11 Oct 2004 22:41:33 GMTOrganization: AOL http://www.aol.comMime-Version: 1.0Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bitMessage-ID: <20041011184133.02596.00001868@mb-m13.aol.com>From KL..http://www.cbn.com/CBNNews/News/041011a.aspEmbryo Adoption: Giving Babies a Second Chance at LifeBy Wendy GriffithCBN News Sr. ReporterOctober 11, 2004CBN.com -- Embryo adoption is a phrase that often causes quizzical looks
fromthose who have never heard of it. Embryos are often talked about in terms
oftheir value in medical research, but more and more couples are
discoveringembryo adoption --not only to save embryos from destruction, but also to
helpbuild the families they have always dreamed about.Eight-month-old twins Savannah and Morgan are the delight of their
parentsJeffand Danette Gillingham of California. The Gillinghams were desperate to
startafamily, but were unable to conceive naturally. So they prayerfully
decided totry frozen embryo adoption.They adopted embryos from three different families, and on the third try,theyhad success. Danette became pregnant with twin girls."They're gorgeous, and they're healthy, and a joy, full of life, and just
soperfect," said Danette. "I mean they're human beings, they're babies.
Theywerefrozen. And to look at them now and think that's what they were, it justboggles your mind."She went on, "They were frozen five years ago, so they were conceived
fiveyears ago, and have been basically waiting in this frozen orphanage for achance at life."Danett's husband Jeff said, ".I think, to state it simply, in my opinion,words can't express the blessings of God these girls are.." He paused astears came to his eyes. Then went on, "I love my girls...I love 'em."In America alone, experts say some 400,000 frozen embryos are being
stored inhospitals and infertility clinics. They are basically leftovers from
coupleswho have undergone in-vitro fertilization in their attempts to have
children.Statistics show only about half of those 400,000 embryos would survive
beingthawed. Of the 200,000 that would survive the thawing process,
researcherssayonly about 12-15 percent of these babies would actually live. So, that'sabout50,000 potential babies.Rod Stoddart is Executive Director of Nightlight Christian Adoption inCalifornia, near Los Angeles. He began the country's first embryo
adoptionprogram about six years ago and named it Snowflakes."An embryo is not an egg, not a sperm; it's a baby. It's a baby at its
veryearliest stage of development. But it's a baby, and the idea of
destroying itis the same as abortion," said Stoddart.Although there are embryo donor programs, he prefers the term 'adoption'and explained why."We use the term adoption because we think it best serves the children.
So,when a child is growing up and they want to know what their story is, we
cantell them they were adopted, not donate. The fact is, we were all embryos
atone point, and the mission of Snowflakes is that every frozen embryo be
givenachance to be born," said Stoddart."Since the program began, we've had 56 babies that have been born," saidLaurie Maze, the Director of a Snowflakes program. "In fact, I just
learnedoftwins this morning that were born Monday, and we have another 18 babies
thatare still due, between now and February 2005."The fact that the fact that babies are being born from frozen embryos wasnevermentioned at this year's Democratic National Convention, as Ron Reagan
Juniorurged Americans to support the destruction of embryos for stem-cell
research."No fetal tissue is involved in this process. No fetuses are created,
nonedestroyed. This all happens in the laboratory at the cellular level,"
saidReagan.Presidential hopeful John Kerry also denied that embryos are human life.Kerrycommented, "I think if we can save millions of lives by doing research onsomething that may be destroyed anyway, that the balance is important."With all the controversy and push for embryonic stem-cell research, Maze
saidshe'd like to help more people realize that "these embryos are, in fact,pre-born children, not just little clumps of cells in a petri dish.""The whole fight is over government funding of the research," said
Stoddart."Private money, the vast majority of the private money, is going to adultstem-cell research, because that's where the results are! You won't hear
themtalking about how many embryos have to be destroyed in order to get an
embryostem-cell line, not to even mention the fact that there have been zerosuccesses using embryo stem-cells. Zero successes!"So why are there so many frozen embryos out there? Often during the
in-vitroprocess, doctors will fertilize many more eggs than are needed to implant
inthe mother, mainly to save the couple's time and money, so they will not
haveto go through the process again.That is what happened to Suzanne and Bob Gray of Atlanta, Georgia. Theydesperately wanted a big family. But they were shocked, during the
in-vitroprocess, to learn that her doctor had fertilized 23 of her eggs!Suzanne Gray, the genetic mother of these embryos, said, "This was a crisis."She and her husband already had four children, including a set of twins
fromthe in-vitro process. So, Suzanne and Bob felt their family was complete,
butthey began to pray about what to do with their remaining 23 embryos."I actually started sending emails to adoption attorneys around the
country,just trying to find out if anyone knew of anyone who worked with embryoadoption," said Suzanne. "One attorney in Louisiana emailed me back, andsaid,try this organization called Snowflakes."At the exact same time Suzanne was contacting Snowflakes to help find herembryos a home, a couple in northern Virginia was also contacting
Snowflakesand wanting to adopt. Greg and Cara Vest had not been able to conceive ontheirown. After three failed attempts with in-vitro fertilization, they werehopingfrozen embryo adoption would lead to the family they'd always dreamed ofhaving.Snowflakes matched the two families, and Cara and Greg Vest adopted all
23 ofthe Gray's embryos. Today the Vests are the proud parents of two-year-oldJonah, the genetic child of Suzanne and Bob Gray of Atlanta.When asked if Jonah could feel any more like their own if he was
geneticallytheirs, Cara Vest responded, "I can't imagine loving a child any more
than Ilove Jonah. I look at him and I know he's not genetically mine, but it isalmost baffling because he is my son."Greg Vest told us, "He loves to ride the tractor. He says 'Daddy tractorride.' When I come in, that's the first thing he wants to do, every
singleday, no matter if it's raining, 10 degrees out, no matter what.""It was in his first words, Mommy, Daddy, tractor," says Cara.CBN News asked the Vests, "With embryo adoption, of course, you get toexperience pregnancy. How important was that option for you?"Cara said, "For me, it was such an important aspect of it. I mean, I
wantedtoexperience pregnancy. I wanted to feel the child kick. I wanted to be the
onein control of what I ate, and what I was exposed to."Suzanne Gray, Jonah's genetic mother, no longer has that control. I spoke
toher about that, "You've met Jonah, seen Jonah. What is that like for
you?"Suzanne said, "To me, when I look at Jonah, I just see God's blessing.
That'sreally what I see. God has so protected my heart and my husband's heart
fromany kind of anguish or sadness. I look at Jonah with complete joy. Mychildrenlook at Jonah with complete joy, because they understand and we
understandthatJonah was and is, a decision for the sanctity of life."When the Vests were asked if their children know that Jonah is their
brother,genetically their brother, Suzanne replied, "It's kind of like an 'extendedfamily' where my children call Greg and Cara, "Aunt Cara and UncleChippie," which is Greg's nick-name. They're family; it's not that they
feellike family - they are family."Of the 23 embryos the Vests adopted, some did not survive the thawing.
Jonahisthe only baby born, so far, out of those embryos. But Cara is now
pregnantagain with Jonah's genetic sibling, another frozen embryo, frozen nine
yearsago, at the same time Jonah was frozen. There are also three remaining
frozenembryos that Cara hopes to mother in the future.For those not familiar with embryo adoption, this may all seem a littlestrange. But the Vests see God's hand in it all. Greg said, "I would say
itgoes back to the failed in-vitro attempts. We were driven toward theseembryos.If we'd been successful with those other attempts, we'd have never knownanything about the Snowflakes program."Cara, with tears in her eyes, said, "I thank God. I can't believe He
chose meto have this amazing little guy. I mean, it's unbelievable, why did I get
soblessed, y'know?"Jeff Gillingham said, "People ask me how many children do you guys want?
Ijusttell them 'blessed is the man whose quiver is full.' There were six kids inmy family growing up. I'm not going to limit God. God knows what we canhandle,what we have need of. So, if God wants to continue to bless, by all
means,I'mnot going to stop the blessings of God." And he added, "I think theultimate blessing would be that my girls know Jesus Christ, to see that."Stoddart says as long as there is in-vitro fertilization, there are going
tobeleftover embryos. He says programs like Snowflakes offer hope, not only
forthese frozen little lives, but for couples who may not be able to
conceive achild any other way.Although embryo adoption is still in its infancy, children like Savannah
andMorgan Gillingham and Jonah Vest are helping people realize that frozenembryosare actual babies just waiting to be born.For further information about embryo adoption, please go to the web site
atembryoadoption.com.-------------------------A good friend will come and bail you out of jail . . . but, a true friendwillbe sitting next to you saying, "Damn . . . that was fun!"-----Unknown Reply to jmhjmd at aol.

"LilMtnCbn" <lilmtncbn@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20041011184133.02596.00001868@mb-m13.aol.com... From KL.. http://www.cbn.com/CBNNews/News/041011a.asp Embryo Adoption: Giving Babies a Second Chance at Life

What immediately jumped to my mind was the mind-boggling custody actions
this could give rise to. If one person had 18 eggs harvested and inseminated
(is that the word) kept one, and put up 17 for adoption and then changed her
mind - or wait for it, they were inseminated by 17 different men who
realized that they had no chance for children themselves and all went to
court for the return of the children.

17 putative fathers, 1 natural mother, 34 adoptive parents, - Oprah here we
come.

Doug Thomas

--
Friends don't let friends drive their Humvees drunk with power
borrowed from William Thomas - famous Port Colborne author
(no relation)

>That's CBN--Christian Broadcasting Network. It's the transcript of theSnowflakes segment of 700 Club today. I saw a little bit of it, but thelocal TBN affiliate keeps cutting out on me. It was truly loathsome towatch..Marley

A most egregious error on my part.

J.
Still having trouble with his alphabet."J." <jmdjmh@aol.compostible> wrote in messagenews:20041011231944.16740.00001868@mb-m11.aol.com... CBS isn't even editing press releases these days, I guess. J.Subject: Embryo Adoption: Giving Babies a Second Chance at LifePath: lobby!ngtf-m01.news.aol.com!audrey-m2.news.aol.com!not-for-mailLines: 196X-Admin: news@aol.comFrom: lilmtncbn@aol.com (LilMtnCbn)Newsgroups: alt.adoptionDate: 11 Oct 2004 22:41:33 GMTOrganization: AOL http://www.aol.comMime-Version: 1.0Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bitMessage-ID: <20041011184133.02596.00001868@mb-m13.aol.com>From KL..http://www.cbn.com/CBNNews/News/041011a.aspEmbryo Adoption: Giving Babies a Second Chance at LifeBy Wendy GriffithCBN News Sr. ReporterOctober 11, 2004CBN.com -- Embryo adoption is a phrase that often causes quizzical looksfromthose who have never heard of it. Embryos are often talked about in termsoftheir value in medical research, but more and more couples arediscoveringembryo adoption --not only to save embryos from destruction, but also tohelpbuild the families they have always dreamed about.Eight-month-old twins Savannah and Morgan are the delight of theirparentsJeffand Danette Gillingham of California. The Gillinghams were desperate tostartafamily, but were unable to conceive naturally. So they prayerfullydecided totry frozen embryo adoption.They adopted embryos from three different families, and on the third try,theyhad success. Danette became pregnant with twin girls."They're gorgeous, and they're healthy, and a joy, full of life, and justsoperfect," said Danette. "I mean they're human beings, they're babies.Theywerefrozen. And to look at them now and think that's what they were, it justboggles your mind."She went on, "They were frozen five years ago, so they were conceivedfiveyears ago, and have been basically waiting in this frozen orphanage for achance at life."Danett's husband Jeff said, ".I think, to state it simply, in my opinion,words can't express the blessings of God these girls are.." He paused astears came to his eyes. Then went on, "I love my girls...I love 'em."In America alone, experts say some 400,000 frozen embryos are beingstored inhospitals and infertility clinics. They are basically leftovers fromcoupleswho have undergone in-vitro fertilization in their attempts to havechildren.Statistics show only about half of those 400,000 embryos would survivebeingthawed. Of the 200,000 that would survive the thawing process,researcherssayonly about 12-15 percent of these babies would actually live. So, that'sabout50,000 potential babies.Rod Stoddart is Executive Director of Nightlight Christian Adoption inCalifornia, near Los Angeles. He began the country's first embryoadoptionprogram about six years ago and named it Snowflakes."An embryo is not an egg, not a sperm; it's a baby. It's a baby at itsveryearliest stage of development. But it's a baby, and the idea ofdestroying itis the same as abortion," said Stoddart.Although there are embryo donor programs, he prefers the term 'adoption'and explained why."We use the term adoption because we think it best serves the children.So,when a child is growing up and they want to know what their story is, wecantell them they were adopted, not donate. The fact is, we were all embryosatone point, and the mission of Snowflakes is that every frozen embryo begivenachance to be born," said Stoddart."Since the program began, we've had 56 babies that have been born," saidLaurie Maze, the Director of a Snowflakes program. "In fact, I justlearnedoftwins this morning that were born Monday, and we have another 18 babiesthatare still due, between now and February 2005."The fact that the fact that babies are being born from frozen embryos wasnevermentioned at this year's Democratic National Convention, as Ron ReaganJuniorurged Americans to support the destruction of embryos for stem-cellresearch."No fetal tissue is involved in this process. No fetuses are created,nonedestroyed. This all happens in the laboratory at the cellular level,"saidReagan.Presidential hopeful John Kerry also denied that embryos are human life.Kerrycommented, "I think if we can save millions of lives by doing research onsomething that may be destroyed anyway, that the balance is important."With all the controversy and push for embryonic stem-cell research, Mazesaidshe'd like to help more people realize that "these embryos are, in fact,pre-born children, not just little clumps of cells in a petri dish.""The whole fight is over government funding of the research," saidStoddart."Private money, the vast majority of the private money, is going to adultstem-cell research, because that's where the results are! You won't hearthemtalking about how many embryos have to be destroyed in order to get anembryostem-cell line, not to even mention the fact that there have been zerosuccesses using embryo stem-cells. Zero successes!"So why are there so many frozen embryos out there? Often during thein-vitroprocess, doctors will fertilize many more eggs than are needed to implantinthe mother, mainly to save the couple's time and money, so they will nothaveto go through the process again.That is what happened to Suzanne and Bob Gray of Atlanta, Georgia. Theydesperately wanted a big family. But they were shocked, during thein-vitroprocess, to learn that her doctor had fertilized 23 of her eggs!Suzanne Gray, the genetic mother of these embryos, said, "This was a crisis."She and her husband already had four children, including a set of twinsfromthe in-vitro process. So, Suzanne and Bob felt their family was complete,butthey began to pray about what to do with their remaining 23 embryos."I actually started sending emails to adoption attorneys around thecountry,just trying to find out if anyone knew of anyone who worked with embryoadoption," said Suzanne. "One attorney in Louisiana emailed me back, andsaid,try this organization called Snowflakes."At the exact same time Suzanne was contacting Snowflakes to help find herembryos a home, a couple in northern Virginia was also contactingSnowflakesand wanting to adopt. Greg and Cara Vest had not been able to conceive ontheirown. After three failed attempts with in-vitro fertilization, they werehopingfrozen embryo adoption would lead to the family they'd always dreamed ofhaving.Snowflakes matched the two families, and Cara and Greg Vest adopted all23 ofthe Gray's embryos. Today the Vests are the proud parents of two-year-oldJonah, the genetic child of Suzanne and Bob Gray of Atlanta.When asked if Jonah could feel any more like their own if he wasgeneticallytheirs, Cara Vest responded, "I can't imagine loving a child any morethan Ilove Jonah. I look at him and I know he's not genetically mine, but it isalmost baffling because he is my son."Greg Vest told us, "He loves to ride the tractor. He says 'Daddy tractorride.' When I come in, that's the first thing he wants to do, everysingleday, no matter if it's raining, 10 degrees out, no matter what.""It was in his first words, Mommy, Daddy, tractor," says Cara.CBN News asked the Vests, "With embryo adoption, of course, you get toexperience pregnancy. How important was that option for you?"Cara said, "For me, it was such an important aspect of it. I mean, Iwantedtoexperience pregnancy. I wanted to feel the child kick. I wanted to be theonein control of what I ate, and what I was exposed to."Suzanne Gray, Jonah's genetic mother, no longer has that control. I spoketoher about that, "You've met Jonah, seen Jonah. What is that like for you?"Suzanne said, "To me, when I look at Jonah, I just see God's blessing.That'sreally what I see. God has so protected my heart and my husband's heartfromany kind of anguish or sadness. I look at Jonah with complete joy. Mychildrenlook at Jonah with complete joy, because they understand and weunderstandthatJonah was and is, a decision for the sanctity of life."When the Vests were asked if their children know that Jonah is theirbrother,genetically their brother, Suzanne replied, "It's kind of like an 'extendedfamily' where my children call Greg and Cara, "Aunt Cara and UncleChippie," which is Greg's nick-name. They're family; it's not that theyfeellike family - they are family."Of the 23 embryos the Vests adopted, some did not survive the thawing.Jonahisthe only baby born, so far, out of those embryos. But Cara is nowpregnantagain with Jonah's genetic sibling, another frozen embryo, frozen nineyearsago, at the same time Jonah was frozen. There are also three remainingfrozenembryos that Cara hopes to mother in the future.For those not familiar with embryo adoption, this may all seem a littlestrange. But the Vests see God's hand in it all. Greg said, "I would sayitgoes back to the failed in-vitro attempts. We were driven toward theseembryos.If we'd been successful with those other attempts, we'd have never knownanything about the Snowflakes program."Cara, with tears in her eyes, said, "I thank God. I can't believe Hechose meto have this amazing little guy. I mean, it's unbelievable, why did I getsoblessed, y'know?"Jeff Gillingham said, "People ask me how many children do you guys want?Ijusttell them 'blessed is the man whose quiver is full.' There were six kids inmy family growing up. I'm not going to limit God. God knows what we canhandle,what we have need of. So, if God wants to continue to bless, by allmeans,I'mnot going to stop the blessings of God." And he added, "I think theultimate blessing would be that my girls know Jesus Christ, to see that."Stoddart says as long as there is in-vitro fertilization, there are goingtobeleftover embryos. He says programs like Snowflakes offer hope, not onlyforthese frozen little lives, but for couples who may not be able toconceive achild any other way.Although embryo adoption is still in its infancy, children like SavannahandMorgan Gillingham and Jonah Vest are helping people realize that frozenembryosare actual babies just waiting to be born.For further information about embryo adoption, please go to the web siteatembryoadoption.com.-------------------------A good friend will come and bail you out of jail . . . but, a true friendwillbe sitting next to you saying, "Damn . . . that was fun!"-----Unknown Reply to jmhjmd at aol.




Reply to jmhjmd at aol.

>Subject: Re: Embryo Adoption: Giving Babies a Second Chance at LifeFrom: "doug thomas" thomform@iaw.on.caDate: 10/12/2004 8:33 AM Eastern Standard TimeMessage-id: <G7OdnbUMybeVUvbcRVn-ig@golden.net>"LilMtnCbn" <lilmtncbn@aol.com> wrote in messagenews:20041011184133.02596.00001868@mb-m13.aol.com... From KL.. http://www.cbn.com/CBNNews/News/041011a.asp Embryo Adoption: Giving Babies a Second Chance at LifeWhat immediately jumped to my mind was the mind-boggling custody actionsthis could give rise to. If one person had 18 eggs harvested and inseminated(is that the word) kept one, and put up 17 for adoption and then changed hermind - or wait for it, they were inseminated by 17 different men whorealized that they had no chance for children themselves and all went tocourt for the return of the children.17 putative fathers, 1 natural mother, 34 adoptive parents, - Oprah here wecome.

Springer would be more appropriate.

Dad