The Great Smoky Mountain Journal
Tuesday, January 01, 2019 03:00 PM
Nebraska Couple Adopts 14-Year Old Embryo From Knoxville
"It wasn't until a year into marriage we found out we couldn't have children," mother Jenny Hancock told CNN affiliate KETV. "Adoption was always something we wanted to pursue."
Prospective parents Jenny and David Hancock tried to adopt their two foster children for five years. They ultimately turned to frozen embryo adoption to complete their family, and they found a non-profit Christian-based embryo donation center in Knoxville, called National Embryo Donation Center.
"That's a hard decision for some of these families," David Hancock said. "Maybe they have a few kids and feel they're done having kids and more embryos are left."
So the couple adopted the embryo that would become two-year-old Kate.
"Her name is Kathryn Joy, and it means pure joy and totally fits her," Jenny Hancock said.
The Hancocks chose an anonymous adoption, knowing only simple profiles, like physical characteristics and eye color, of the biological parents. The selected embryos were transferred to Jennifer's uterus after a home study, medication and careful timing.
"There's that anticipation and hope that it's going to lead to life, and you see the pictures of the embryos," David Hancock said.
That life had actually been on ice for about 14 years.
"You look at her, she's a full blown kid, and she was preserved in 2001 at -321 degrees, just a small collection of cells," David Hancock said.
Jenny and David have attempted two more transfers since Kate, without success. Doctors say the operation generally has a 50 percent success rate.
The process' cost is cheaper than in-vitro fertilization, ranging between $2,000-4,000.