IVF mum wants to trade "quality" girl embryo for boy to give son a brother

A 37-year-old mum has posted an appeal to trade her "quality" girl embryo for a boy one so she can give her son a baby brother.

Lisa, who has undergone multiple rounds of IVF, is prepared to swap her last remaining embryo with a stranger’s to have another boy.

The actress, whose name has been changed for privacy reasons, says she is looking to trade embryos for her five-year-old’s sake.

Only last week, the little boy reportedly saw two young brothers near their US home and asked her: "When am I going to get a brother?"

"I’m doing this for my son," Lisa told the New York Post.

"My husband grew up with sisters and wants a boy too. This is the way we want to complete our family."

She said it also ‘economically makes sense’ to have another son, with no room in their two-bedroom home for a third bedroom.

And she added that even though the male embryo wouldn’t be hers biologically, she believes she would form a bond by carrying it.

The mum and her partner, who live with their son in Brooklyn, New York, have battled infertility issues for nearly 10 years.

They were delighted to welcome Daniel – also a pseudonym – into the world following IVF at a Manhattan fertility clinic in 2012.

Lisa said the youngster is "beautiful" and her "world", but he has repeatedly asked for a brother since he started talking.

When he was still a toddler, she underwent multiple attempts to transfer the remaining frozen embryos, but they didn’t take.

She and her partner later used their savings to fund more IVF, but encountered problems with the embryos, according to the paper.

A male embryo was eventually successfully implanted, but Lisa tragically miscarried. Since then, she has been "stuck on a boy".

“We’ve saved all this boy stuff," she said.

It was in May this year that the mum froze the female embryo she now wants to trade following yet another round of IVF.

She admitted she had been surprised and "sad" it was a girl.

The couple, who ruled out adoption due to the cost and time it takes to process, pay $1,000 (£770) a year to keep the embryo in storage.

But Lisa hopes she might be able to trade it by Christmas.

Last month, she posted an appeal on Facebook IVF support groups, saying she has a "great quality" girl embryo.

She wrote: "Hello, we have been trying to give my child a sibling for three years… we want to complete our family with a son.

"We have a great quality female embryo.

"Would you like to consider a trade?"

The post reportedly sparked a number of complaints, but Lisa said she was contacted by another mum who may wish to swap.

She told the Post the woman’s husband is yet to give the OK.

Women who undergo embryo donation have another couple’s embryo implanted into their womb via in vitro fertilisation.

They may take this route if they are single and cannot use their own eggs, or if they and their partner need both donor eggs and sperm.

In the US, the buying or selling of embryos is illegal.

Some experts say embryos put up for donation will typically not be the most viable, therefore could impact on pregnancy rate.

In Britain, there are rules preventing the discrimination of embroys, with gender selection only permitted for pressing medical reasons.

Embryo donors are not paid anything other than basic expenses.

WSTale.com