Dictionary definition of “snowflake baby”

snowflake baby

n. a child grown and born from a frozen embryo. Subjects: English, Medical

Etymological Note: The term probably is derived from Snowflakes, an embryo-adoption agency affiliated with Focus on the Family, a conservative Christian organization founded by James Dobson, who is the author of the 2004 citation.

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Citations: 2003 Suzanne Smalley Newsweek (Mar. 24) “A New Baby Debate” p. 53: Snowflakes, the first embryo-adoption program in the country, began matching donor embryos to infertile women in 1997 with the help of the conservative Christian group Focus on the Family.…So far, 19 Snowflakes babies have been born and 15 more women in the program are pregnant. While the still-small embryo-adoption movement has yet to spread beyond the Christian community, there is clearly a growing interest among infertile couples in embryo donation. 2004 James Dobson (CBS-TV) (June 13) “Face the Nation”: They’re called snowflake babies, that come from those frozen embryos. 2005 Democratic Underground (June 6) “The Top 10 Conservative Idiots”: There are currently about 400,000 frozen embryos in storage, and about 9,000 of the 400,000 frozen embryos are available for “adoption” by other people. People who adopt these embryos can get them implanted and attempt to have a so-called “snowflake” baby, which is somewhat Aryan-sounding but that’s another story. But guess what? Typically clinics will transfer up to four embryos to the uterus for possible implantation. And three out of four of those embryos die without developing into a fetus. So every time people try to have a snowflake baby, they’re killing three other “babies.”

Posted 6 Jun 05 | Permalink | Tell a Friend

Reader comments:

Just read this….what?? sometimes all the embryos take and there are twins, triplets, etc. Then there are multiple lives saved. How do you ‘kill’ other babies when they don’t develop; at least these people try. What would happen to the one that made it if they didn’t try????

by Lisa 13 Dec 06, 0253 GMT

I agree wtih Lisa. They’ll stay frozen or people will grow them in test tubes and then kill them. It seems a lot more logical to save as many as possible.

by Erin 08 Feb 07, 0550 GMT

If everyone is concern about the life of “Snowflake Baby”, what are they doing outside the womb.?

by voice 14 Apr 07, 0201 GMT

i agree; but those that try to have a snowflake baby didn’t put them in that situation to begin with.

by Lisa 14 Apr 07, 0218 GMT

Just some points of clarification: 1. The Snowflake Embryo Adoption Program is not a program of Focus on the Family. Focus has positively reinforced embryo adoption and helped potential donors and adopters work through spiritual concerns they may have.
2. The name ‘Snowflake’ indicates the uniqueness of each person (frozen embryo).
3. Embryo Donation and Adoption is practiced throughout the U.S., not just by the Snowflake program. Many infertility clinics offer programs to help their patients who have embryos remaining from their in vitro treatments donate them to other families.
4. Even when a couple is receiving an in vitro treatment for their own family building, multiple embryos are transferred into the woman’s womb in the hope that at least one will implant and mature to birth.
I thought your readers should be provided with more accurate information.

by Kimberly Tyson 07 Jan 09, 1221 GMT