How Embryo Adoption Turns Frozen Embryos Into Family

A million plus embryos may be sitting in freezers across the United States, and most people have never been asked the simplest question: what should happen to them now? We sit down with Beth Button, Vice President at Nightlight Christian Adoptions, to explain Snowflake Embryo Adoption in plain language.

We also hear from Caleb and Suzanne Johnson, who chose embryo adoption and welcomed their son into their family. They describe why the idea felt “sci fi” at first, why carrying their adopted child through pregnancy became deeply meaningful, and how sharing their story has opened eyes in their own circles.

If this helped you understand embryo adoption, share it with someone who needs hope or clarity, then subscribe, leave a review, and tell us what question you still have about frozen embryos or Snowflake adoption.

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Transcript

Beth Button 0:03

The reason that we refer to them as snowflakes babies is because each one is very unique. As soon as an embryo is formed, it already has a full set of DNA and is a unique human being.

Victor Nieves 0:23

Welcome to Straight Talk on Life Issues. I'm Victor Nieves, president of Life Issues Institute. Considering that life begins at the moment of conception, destroying embryos would result in the loss of children's lives. Snowflake Adoption, however, gives these embryos a chance at full life. Snowflake Adoption follows adoption best practices, transferring remaining embryos from placing families or donors to adopting families, the recipients, who then undergo frozen embryo transfers with the embryos and give birth to their adopted child themselves. Today we'll be speaking with Beth Button, Vice President at Nightlight Christian Adoptions, where she manages the Snowflake Embryo Adoption Program. We're also joined by Caleb and Suzanne Johnson. They're from Southern California and have four kids, one of which was adopted through embryo adoption. Beth, Caleb, and Suzanne, thank you so much for joining us. Thanks for having us. Glad to be here. Beth, I'd like if we could start with you. This is such an exciting topic, and it's exciting for me. I'm sure it's exciting for our listener, but many people may not know a whole lot about embryo adoption. Can you explain to us just a little bit more about what it is and how it works?

Beth Button 1:44

Sure. So embryo adoption involves an option for placing families who have done in vitro fertilization or IVF to have an option for any remaining embryos that they may have from that process. It's pretty common for any time anyone does an IVF cycle for more embryos to be created than the patient is going to use. And it became really and is still an issue for families deciding what to do with those embryos. And, you know, previously their options were simply to allow them to remain frozen indefinitely or to discard them. So embryo adoption, you know, is a way, it's a process that we created at Night Light Christian Adoptions to give those families another option to be able to give these embryos a chance to be born.

Victor Nieves 2:34

And Beth, you know, we've heard before that there's estimates that there could be millions. Do I have that correct? Millions of babies that are currently frozen that were created through the IVF process. And so one of the things that's so special about Snowflake adoption is that it opens up an opportunity, you know, for those babies to see the fruition of their life.

Beth Button 2:55

Right. It's clinics actually in the US aren't required to document or report how many embryos they're storing. The same applies with cryo storage facilities. So they are just estimates. The last, I guess, main estimate that came out a few years ago was one and a half million. But I've heard some people even, you know, put the estimate more like five million.

Home Study And Matching Process

Victor Nieves 3:18

Wow. And so for somebody who wants to walk through this process, we know that there are these embryos that have already been created in storage, wherever they may be. But what about for the adopting family? What does this process actually look like and how does it work?

Beth Button 3:32

Right. So we do at nightlight consider this to be an adoption. That's why we call it embryo adoption. And so we follow an adoption model and adoption best practices. Families who apply will go through a home study process, a pre-adoption assessment, just like with any other type of adoption, which educates them and also places value on these embryos and reinforces that they are children and this is an adoption. And then when they've completed that process, they enter the matching stage, which is where we are matching them with embryos that have already been placed with us through the snowflakes program.

Victor Nieves 4:11

And Beth, what should our listener know about the legal side of this? Obviously, with traditional adoption, there's a lot of hoops that people end up jumping through. What, if any, legislation is there that kind of guides this process?

Legal Reality Of Embryo Ownership

Beth Button 4:22

Right. Well, it's interesting because even though we treat it as adoption and we recognize these embryos as children, in the U.S., they are not recognized as children. They are recognized as property. So rather than going to court to finalize the adoption, like you would see in any other type of adoption, we're actually transferring ownership of embryos from the placing family directly to the adopting family via contract.

Victor Nieves 4:51

And what a staggering thought that is. I mean, we're talking about, and I know that these are details, but the status of our laws right now, we're talking about the technical ownership of children, of these babies. That in and of itself could potentially be a whole other program for a whole other day. But I know that there's been so many concerns that many people have had as it relates to the ethics of IVF. And Beth, what you're telling me today seems like there is at least another side of this. There are couples who can come and they can adopt those embryos, which is such a blessing. And, you know, I know that there are people who have a concern about the creation of children through IVF. What we're describing today is the adoption of already created children. We're talking about something that there is no, in my opinion, now correct me if I'm wrong, I don't know. Maybe there's people who take issue with snowflake adoption. I couldn't see how. There is no possible way that there'd be an ethical concern about the adoption, or even as a family that has gone through the IVF process, to have those children be adopted. That's a great thing. That's wonderful. So I'm encouraged to hear about snowflake adoption. And it's something that, in my opinion, just far too few people really know about the great work that you're doing.

Why They Are Called Snowflakes

Beth Button 6:00

Yeah, I agree. And we've we've done quite a bit to just raise awareness. Unfortunately, back to your previous point, there are people who do find an ethical issue with adopting embryos. And it just goes back to the fact that they don't support IVF or anything remotely related to IVF. But by and large, it is a great solution for a lot of families, both the placing and the adopting families. And, you know, for the most part, we do receive a lot of support.

Victor Nieves 6:28

And you know, Beth, one of the things I love about the work that you do is this the term snowflake babies. But for the sake of our listener, explain why that they're called snowflake babies.

Beth Button 6:37

Sure. So you actually will hear that term used by other entities as well, but it's actually, we have a trademark on the term snowflakes. And the reason that we refer to them as snowflakes babies is because each one is very unique. As soon as an embryo is formed, it already has a full set of DNA and is a unique human being. And then the other reason, of course, is because they have been cryogenically frozen.

Freezing Tech And Thaw Success

Victor Nieves 7:05

And what should our listener know about the process of the cryogenic freezing? This is something that's new to a lot of people. It almost sounds like it's out of sci-fi. The thought that you could freeze these embryos, is there any long-term damage? Is there any concerns that a couple perhaps they're having issues with whatever it might be, or they just really love the idea of snowflake adoption? Is there anything that they should know whenever it relates to the freezing process?

Beth Button 7:31

There's really not any evidence that it damages embryos. The main concern, and really one of the reasons that there are people that don't support IVF that they mention is that just because you can freeze an embryo doesn't mean it's going to thaw successfully. So some of these embryos will not survive the thawing process, which is a big ethical concern. Fortunately, technology has advanced in that it used to be when embryos were frozen, they were frozen using what they call a slow freeze methodology. And only about half of those embryos frozen that way would survive the thaw. And now, since about somewhere between 2005 and 2010, was when vitrification became the common practice. And embryos that are frozen that way kind of depends on who you ask, but I would safely say over 90% of those embryos will survive the thawing process. Doesn't mean that they're going to implant and result in pregnancy. It doesn't having been frozen doesn't seem to affect whether or not the embryo will implant once it thaws successfully.

Victor Nieves 8:38

And Beth, is the implantation rate through this process, is it different than a natural implantation rate where there's been no freezing or other circumstances?

Beth Button 8:48

It's about the same. I mean, it we that's one thing that I guess humans have not been able to control yet is whether they can force the embryo to implant and continue to develop.

Victor Nieves 8:59

Well, Caleb and Suzanne, I'd like to change gears and talk to you both for a minute. Tell us about your story with Snowflake adoption.

Caleb Johnson 9:06

So I guess it goes back to when we were dating and we discussed the fact that we both wanted to adopt someday. And we didn't know what that would look like, whether it be infant adoption or foster to adopt. But uh eventually we decided the Snowflake embryo adoption program is what we wanted to do. So I think that process started about two years ago. We worked with Nightlight, obviously, to do this, filled out our profile, did all the steps that the process requires. Like Beth mentioned, it's just like a regular adoption. There was a home study, and we were matched with another family that had some embryos, and I guess our first embryo baby was born almost a year ago, April of 2025.

Victor Nieves 9:41

Well, congratulations. That's fantastic. Tell us more, what about specifically snowflake adoption? What about that was appealing to you?

Caleb Johnson 9:48

Yeah, I think it goes to a lot of what Beth was just saying. There's a growing need for this. I think IVF is getting more and more public attention. Politicians are speaking about it, it's in the media. So there's only going to be a growing need of embryos that are out there in a frozen state in perpetuity, you know, until they are no longer wanted. So um we like the fact that we're able to draw attention to this by not only helping to step in and adopt some of these, but also to share about this with other people. I would say that most of the people we talk to, friends and acquaintances, have never heard of embryo adoption. So it gives us a chance to spread that, make it more well known. Hopefully, somebody else that we speak to will want to do it as well. So we we like that fact of it.

Why Embryo Adoption Felt Right

Suzanne Johnson 10:29

We also we had three children before our snowflake adoption. So the Lord was kind to bless us with three biological children. And then when the discussion came to, okay, now, you know, we've had three kids, we'd like to adopt our next kid, weighing the different options. And the idea that you can be pregnant with your adopted child with embryo adoption is really amazing too. And I had great pregnancies and loved being pregnant, and so that was another kind of factor that we weighed in that this would be another cool way to not only adopt because that's on our hearts and something that's important to us, but also I get to be pregnant with the adopted baby, and also we get to share this cool thing with people and make people aware that embryo adoption is out there and that it's a need that a lot of people don't know about. So, kind of all of that put together, it it made it a pretty easy decision for us to move forward with embryo adoption.

Victor Nieves 11:22

Caleb and Suzanne, I mean, first I want to applaud you going back to the idea that there would be those who have any sort of ethical concern with what you two did, I just cannot understand that because I think it is such a wonderful thing that you did, drawing attention to this. But also, Caleb, as you mentioned, giving these children that are frozen in perpetuity, giving them the fullness of their life, that's a wonderful, wonderful thing to do. And so I applaud you for that. You know, Suzanne, one of the things that you said that really stuck out to me, and I know that this sticks out to others who are considering snowflake adoption, and it's something, like we said, not everybody even knows that this exists. But we've spoken to others who found it to be very compelling that you get to go through the entire pregnancy with your adoptive child. I mean, that is a really that's unique, that's a very special thing. And without this, you know, that's not really an option in any other way to adopt a child and to be able to carry and deliver your baby. Suzanne, what was that part like for you as a mother?

Infertility And Practical Benefits

Suzanne Johnson 12:18

It was very cool, very special. There's nothing else like it. There's nothing like pregnant and having a baby and being able to share that emotional connection with infant adoption. It's needed and it's necessary, but there is that, you know, separation when the baby's born from their birth mother. And it can be wonderful with the adoptive parents and everything, but there is that that that baby has to go through. So with Snowflake adoption, that doesn't happen. And I don't know, from the mother's point of view, like you're already connected and bonded with your baby while they're growing in you. And so the relationship just starts earlier than it could. So emotionally and biologically, with you know, transfer of cells and all these things that are happening with your body and the baby's body from before they're even born is such a cool thing and such a beautiful thing. So, especially people who are struggling with infertility too. Like it's so cool that this is an option that if you're thinking, oh, I'm never gonna be able to have a chance at being pregnant and having a baby, like this is a good chance to be able to do that.

Victor Nieves 13:16

But I'd like to bring you back into the conversation. You know, as Suzanne just mentioned, there are those who are struggling with infertility. Talk to us about snowflake adoption, embryo adoption through the lenses, perhaps even as a fertility option for couples that cannot otherwise have a child.

Beth Button 13:33

Right. Yeah. You know, Caleb and Suzanne are a little bit unique because I would say somewhere around probably 85% or more of our adopting families are struggling with infertility or have experienced infertility. And that is, you know, at least in part what has led them to an interest in embryo adoption. So definitely we have many, many clients who choose to do embryo adoption rather than create even more embryos and just add to the pool that's already waiting. And the other advantage to them is that it's much less expensive than doing an IVF cycle. You also are adopting the placing family's entire cohort of embryos in most cases. So that gives them the opportunity to have one child and children who are genetically related to one another. And of course, you know, like Suzanne said, like there's no other experience like pregnancy. And so that's very valuable to people. And the other aspect of that is kind of comparing this to domestic adoption, is that you get to control the prenatal environment. And we know now how important it is to be aware of what substances we're bringing into our bodies when we're pregnant and all of those factors. So yeah, it really, if people can get past the fact that, you know, they're not going to have a child who's genetically related to them, this is a great option. I think the reason that people are still doing IVF is because they place a lot of importance on having that genetic connection.

How Nightlight And Snowflakes Began

Victor Nieves 15:08

Beth, as we talk about this and just I keep going back to how wonderful it is, the couples that are adopting these embryos, just that is such a wonderful thing. I'm curious, why was nightlike Christian adoptions started in the first place?

Beth Button 15:23

So uh nightlike Christian adoptions was started back in the 50s, you know, just as a response to the need for already born children, you know, to have adoptive families, to love and care for them. And then Snowflakes was founded in 1997. And that really just came from the awareness that, you know, wow, there are a lot of these frozen embryos in storage, and there needs to be a better solution than what there was available currently. And our president at the time is also an attorney, and he had some friends of his that were struggling with infertility, and they became aware, you know, of this issue of Bali's embryos in need of families, and they came to him and said, you know, why don't we talk about the possibility of being able to adopt embryos? And so it just took off from there, and then our very first snowflakes baby was born to that couple the following year in 1998.

How To Spread Awareness

Victor Nieves 16:22

That's incredible. And one of the things, returning as we were speaking about fertility and IVF, one of the things that many people falsely believe if they're struggling with infertility, which many, many couples in the United States do struggle with infertility, many believe that IVF is sort of the default. It's the only option if you're in that position. We've spoken with experts on Naprotechnology, and that's very interesting. But I I really like introducing snowflake adoptions into the conversation as an option for, you know, a couple where they would like to carry their pregnancy. These are important factors to a lot of people. And so it encourages me a lot, Caleb and Suzanne, as you share your story and you get this information out there. And Beth, as you continue to do this great work to get that information out, what would all of you say the rest of us can do to help other people know that this is an option for them?

Beth Button 17:12

I'll just say, like, I do think that we are kind of up against the huge industry that is the fertility industry. And it's kind of like you said, when you mention, you know, the other technology. Patients aren't hearing from their clinics about restorative medicine that could possibly increase their fertility or, you know, address that in a natural way rather than creating embryos. And they also aren't hearing about embryo adoption because the clinic prefers to do IVF for that patient. So we kind of have to have ways to get around that. You know, I think Caleb and Suzanne are already doing a great job. They mentioned that they're sharing this with other people. And so many people are so private about adoption or infertility, and it it needs to be discussed more because word of mouth is really a great way to just spread awareness. I mean, we've been doing awareness campaigns for years and years through social media and our website and, you know, various educational webinars and videos that we produce. But really just having, you know, clients like this family who are willing to talk to other people about it is very valuable.

Caleb Johnson 18:24

I would just add, just talk about the fact that embryos are human beings. You'd be surprised how many people who would call themselves pro-life don't make the connection between the all the embryos that are created in the IBF process and the fact that they're people. And, you know, either keeping them frozen indefinitely or destroying them is tantamount to abortion. So just helping people to see that connection.

Suzanne Johnson 18:45

That's what I was gonna say. I think people just aren't thinking through, you know, what happens in an IBF process and what that really means. I've just had a number of conversations where just talking about it and like kind of reviewing the facts of biology, and then it's pretty easy to get to conclusion, like these are creating like individual lives. Oh, wait a minute, let me think about that. I think people just are thinking, oh yeah, it is creating babies and babies are good, or that's it. But I think so asking questions and kind of just talking through what is this and what is it doing, and maybe that could be a problem. Oh, well, it then it doesn't. So I don't know. That's what I've noticed is people aren't just thinking through it. So talking about every time we get to bring it up, then sometimes there's questions that people ask, people think, are you a surrogate? Or is this just like IVF, then explaining the differences between, hey, this is what we did, here's why it's very different than those other things. And then they come to the conclusion, oh, I understand the difference, and here's why this is good. So I don't know, that's been interesting to see having a number of conversations with people as we share about this process with Snowflake adoption and how it works. And then they understand why we do it and why it's kind of necessary and why we need to be thinking through these things.

Advice For Families And Detractors

Victor Nieves 20:00

And I think that's so important, Caleb and Suzanne, as you mentioned, because as the national conversation continues to heat up surrounding IVF, both legislative, cultural, all of these different factors, so many people, again, don't even know that this is an option. They don't know about Naprotechnology, they don't know about snowflake adoptions. And so we love to get this out. But to your point, Suzanne, if we just follow the very foundation of the pro-life position, if we just follow basic biology, we know that at the moment of fertilization, at the moment that that baby is conceived, it is a new, distinct human being. And so, absolutely, it is a human. It's it's not just some sort of medical waste. You know, almost we see this phraseology from some people as though it's something to be discarded or something that doesn't matter. And I'm so grateful to families, Caleb and Suzanne, like you, who have recognized the value of that baby from the moment of its fertilization. I mean, that is the quintessential pro-life position. And so we are so very grateful for all the work that you do to raise attention to this. You know, I'm curious, maybe there's a couple listening to this program right now, and they've never heard of this before, but they're really interested. They're amazed that it's even an option. Caleb and Suzanne, what would you say to them as they consider it? Having been through the process yourself, what's your message to them?

Suzanne Johnson 21:20

I would say look into it and ask a lot of questions. It seems a little weird and funky and kind of sci-fi at first. I know when we were talking to family about it, some of our family was kind of like, wait a minute, this is really weird. And I admit it's kind of weird, but that's the situation that our world is in. But I just say ask questions, reach out to Snowflake or an organization and talk to real people who have done it, because now we have our son Isaac, who's part of our family, and he's wonderful and perfect and amazing. And so thinking about looking at him now as a almost 11 month old and thinking about how his life could not have been like it is. So I just think connecting it to a real child who is a part of our family and is just like our other children, it's been such a blessing. So I just say talk to people and ask questions about it because I think the more you learn about it, the less kind of strange and daunting it seems.

Victor Nieves 22:15

Beth, what advice do you have for a prospective family that might be interested in snowflake adoption?

Beth Button 22:20

I would say pretty much the same thing. One thing I was gonna add, and you kind of alluded to this already, is I do appreciate that people are educating others and their friends and family members about IVF because there are so many politicians in the US that are pro-life that are in support of IVF. And I guarantee you most of those just don't know what it involves. And they don't realize that lives are being destroyed as others are being created. But yeah, you know, we have a lot of resources online to educate people. They are welcome to give us a call. We'll explain the process to them and just walk them through that and answer any questions that they have.

Victor Nieves 22:57

And Beth, I'd love to give you the final word. What would you say to the detractors, those who, for whatever reason, think that there's an ethical problem with snowflake adoption?

Beth Button 23:08

Yeah, I would just say just because we are in this practice doesn't mean that we have created this issue, right? The embryos have already been created. And now that they're here, we have a responsibility to care for these children. And just allowing them to languish to me is not an ethical option. And the other thing, you know, I would just encourage for anyone who maybe has remaining embryos who might be listening to this, don't wait to make a plan for them. Because even though these embryos don't have a shelf life necessarily, technology is advancing and fertility clinics are less and less likely to accept some of these older, slow frozen embryos. And just because we know they can be thawed successfully and result in a healthy baby doesn't mean that they'll accept them. And it becomes harder and harder to match those embryos. So give us a call. You know, we have a lot of support and resources for our placing families as well. And we're happy to assist them with making that decision.

Victor Nieves 24:09

Well, Beth, Caleb, and Suzanne, thank you all so much for joining us. This has been a very interesting show.

Caleb Johnson 24:14

Thank you.

Beth Button 24:15

Thank you.

Suzanne Johnson 24:15

Thank you.

Beth Button 24:16

We appreciate it.

Victor Nieves 24:37

My call to action for you, our listener, is to go and tell a handful of people about this program. You never know the difference that you could have in your church, your community, your family. Make sure that everybody around you is aware of this and make sure that you tell them about the resources, the information, so that they can learn more on our website, Life Issues. I am so appreciative of the work that they do. I am so appreciative of the couples who are allowing these babies that have been frozen in perpetuity to have a chance at the fullness of life. They already are alive, but they're not being given a chance for the fullness of their life. And so, what these couples are doing, in my opinion, is absolutely fantastic. Be sure to tune in next week for another straight talk on life issues.