5 Towards an Understanding of Embryo Donation ... 125However, while drawing on an adoption metaphor to make sense of
ED, the majority of donors regarded ED as easier than adoption. This
was because it involved the donation of an embryo, not a child. Donors
expressed that the lack of a gestational relationship between themselves
and the child created a feeling of distance; it made donation less chal-
lenging than relinquishing a child that a donor had gestated and given
birth to. Where donors felt they had completed their families, they
tended to regard the embryos as ones they themselves would not use.
Instead, from an empowered position, they could donate to help other
individuals have families.
However, by seeing ED as adoption, the future implications of their
decision to donate: that there would be a child born who was ‘geneti-
cally theirs’ and yet that they would not parent, were made transpar-
ent. This comparison also complicated the decision for some donors.
It reinforced their viewpoint of the embryos as their children, rather
than as cells or biological resources that others could use to have chil-
dren. Where donors had struggled with the concept of donating their
embryos, some also compared themselves with birth parents. They saw
themselves as similarly disempowered and faced with no alternatives
but to donate by virtue of their circumstances (e.g. physically unable to
carry a future pregnancy). In such cases, the donation was made with a
degree of ambivalence.
Further, for some donors the comparison with adoption highlighted
differences between the two practices which were of potential concern.
First, donors pointed out that adoption involved a thorough assess-
ment of the recipients’ ability to parent, which was not the case in ED,
where screening is limited to medical assessments and police checks.
The current emphasis in New Zealand policy is on a balancing of indi-
vidual (adult) rights and the rights of the (future) child, where both are
given important consideration (Angus 2012 ). Since in ED there is not
yet a child to protect, some authors (Anderson 2006 ; de Lacey 2010 )
have suggested that assessment may be seen as unnecessary, as well as
an infringement of reproductive rights and individual choice. Several
donors in our study stated that they would welcome formal assessment
of parenting suitability, however, as is the case in adoption. While they
recognised that they were donating embryos and not placing children
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