What if You and Your Spouse Disagree About Embryo Disposition?

Planning for IVF means making decisions about more than just treatment. You’ll also need to decide what should happen to any embryos that remain after your family-building journey.

Below, we’ll explain how embryo disposition agreements work in Illinois, what can happen if spouses disagree and why making these decisions before treatment begins can help reduce uncertainty. If you have questions about embryo disposition, IVF or surrogacy, contact Gillespie Law Group, LLC to schedule a consultation.

What Is an Embryo Disposition Agreement?

Before beginning IVF, most fertility clinics ask patients to sign consent forms and an embryo disposition agreement.

While fertility clinic consent forms cover medical treatment, embryo disposition agreements specifically address what you and your spouse want to happen to your embryos in certain situations, such as divorce, death or deciding not to pursue additional IVF treatment.

Creating the agreement early gives you time to discuss these decisions together while you’re planning your family’s future.

What if You and Your Spouse Disagree About Embryo Disposition?

You and your spouse may have different ideas about what should happen to your embryos. For example, one of you may prefer to keep the embryos in storage, while the other wants to donate them if you decide not to pursue additional IVF treatment.

Before starting treatment, it’s important to talk through these situations and reach a shared understanding. If you can’t reach an agreement, it’s worth taking more time to work through these decisions. Doing so can reduce the likelihood of future disputes.

An experienced Illinois assisted reproductive technology attorney can help you work through these conversations and prepare an embryo disposition agreement that reflects your shared decisions.

What Decisions Should You Include in an Embryo Disposition Agreement?

One of the most important parts of creating an embryo disposition agreement is deciding what options you want to include. Depending on your situation, you may decide that your embryos should:

Stay in storage
Be used in future IVF cycles
Be donated to another family, if permitted
Be donated for research, if available
Be thawed and discarded

Not every option will be available in every case. Your fertility clinic’s policies may limit which choices are legally or practically available.

How Illinois Law Approaches Embryo Disposition

Illinois law recognizes the importance of written embryo disposition agreements. If questions arise later about what should happen to your embryos, those agreements often play an important role in resolving the issue.

Not every agreement addresses every possible situation. If questions remain, the agreement, the specific facts of the case and applicable Illinois law may all affect the outcome. Working with an experienced attorney can help you create an agreement that reflects your intentions as clearly as possible.

Why Embryo Disposition Matters for Future Family-Building

Many couples create embryos before they’re ready to use them. Your plans today may look different several years from now.

For example, you may hope to have another child through IVF or pursue surrogacy in the future. Having clear plans for embryo disposition can make it easier to navigate those decisions if your circumstances change.

If donor eggs or donor sperm are involved, there may also be additional legal agreements that should be considered alongside your embryo disposition agreement.

How Illinois Couples Can Protect Their Future Before IVF

Creating an embryo disposition agreement isn’t just about completing paperwork. It’s an opportunity to discuss important legal and family-building decisions before IVF begins.

Working with your fertility clinic and an attorney can help you:

Consider how changes such as divorce or death could affect your plans
Ensure your embryo disposition agreement clearly reflects your wishes
Understand how the agreement works alongside your fertility clinic consent forms

Planning ahead can’t prevent every disagreement, but it can make future decisions easier.

Talk With Gillespie Law Group Before Creating Embryos

Gillespie Law Group, LLC helps families navigate embryo disposition agreements, IVF, surrogacy and other assisted reproductive technology matters. We’re here to provide guidance tailored to your family’s goals.