Adoption is beautiful.
Adoption seeks to heal and restore a broken family situation for a child who desperately needs love, care, and support.
In addition to adoption being a beautiful restoration of a broken family situation, it is the language God uses when describing His relationship with His people.
Romans 8:14-15:
“For as many as are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons by whom we cry out, ‘Abba! Father!’” (LSB)
Galatians 4:4-5:
“But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.”
How fitting that during this Christmas season, we as Christians are reminded to reflect on this aspect of our salvation and the new identity we have in Christ.
We are adopted.
To reiterate my first point, adoption is beautiful and restorative. Adoption is in line with the language of God towards His people.
With this in mind, let’s turn to a very real situation that America is facing because of the IVF (In Vitro Fertilization) industry.
For those who may not be completely familiar with the process of IVF, it is the medical process whereby a sperm and an egg are fertilized outside of the womb in a laboratory. The resulting embryo (and unique human being made in the image of God) is then implanted into a woman’s womb for the rest of the pregnancy.
However, the IVF industry regularly takes more than one egg and sperm at a time to use for the fertilization process. This results in dozens of tiny image-bearers, though couples regularly only seek to implant one baby at a time.
This leaves the family in a quandary as to what they should do with the remaining embryos.
Most devastating, the most common choice couples make is to have the remaining unwanted babies discarded (killed). Some decide to have their babies donated for experimental research in the name of science, whereas others choose to keep the remaining embryos in storage– frozen indefinitely in time.
This brings us to the topic of today’s discussion: snowflake babies and adoption.
Nightlight Christian Adoptions understands the sad reality of unwanted, frozen embryos. This is why they embarked on the journey of creating a special Snowflake Adoption Program just for these babies.
In addition to Nightlight, Embryo Adoption Awareness Center is also in the same business of helping families have children through embryo adoption, as well as helping families choose life for their own embryos through embryo donation.
You may be wondering what embryo adoption is:
“When couples use in vitro fertilization to achieve pregnancy, they will often have embryos remaining after they complete their family. One option available to them is to donate their embryos to another family through embryo donation. Donation for reproduction is the only life choice for remaining embryos.”
Embryo adoption allows IVF couples to choose life for their remaining embryos even if they choose not to parent their remaining children themselves.
Kristen, an embryo-adopting parent through Nightlight remarks,
“Simply put– embryo adoption is a life-affirming gift that should be supported, honored, and treasured by the human race!”
Helen, an embryo donor parent through Nightlight comments,
“We donated our embryos to give them life!”
While the IVF industry is built upon the desires of adults rather than the safety and protection of children, Nightlight’s snowflakes program and Embryo Adoption Awareness Center seek to rectify the anti-life culture IVF has contributed to.
If you or someone you know are interested in either embryo adoption or choosing life through embryo donation, Nightlight’s Snowflake Program or the Embryo Adoption Awareness Center might be the perfect resource.
