The TEC-14 group from ibs.GRANADA is participating in a project awarded by the Fundació Grífols to study the ethical conflicts surrounding the donation of cryopreserved embryos

For the project “Embryos without a destiny: ethical conflicts and decisions on the reproductive donation of abandoned cryopreserved embryos”, led by Nerea Molina Morales, researcher attached to the Youngner Chair of Empirical Bioethics

The Víctor Grífols i Lucas Foundation has awarded one of its 2025 Bioethics Research Grants to the project “Embryos without a destination: ethical conflicts and decisions regarding the reproductive donation of abandoned cryopreserved embryos”, led by Nerea Molina Morales, a researcher in the group TEC-14 Human Reproduction and Hereditary and Complex Diseases from ibs.GRANADA and postdoctoral researcher at the University of Granada, attached to the Youngner Chair of Empirical Bioethics (CYBE, FiloLab-UGR) of the Department of Philosophy I.

In Spain, approximately 800.000 cryopreserved embryos are stored in assisted reproduction centers, a significant portion of which remain in storage without a clear destination due to the lack of renewed consent from the women or couples who conceived them. Spanish legislation (Law 14/2006 on Assisted Human Reproduction Techniques) contemplates four possible destinations for the embryos: their use by the woman or couple themselves, donation for reproductive purposes, donation for biomedical research, or the cessation of their storage. However, the lack of response or renewal of consent by the intended parents leaves many of these embryos in a legal and ethical limbo, generating uncertainty for both the centers and the families involved.

International scientific literature has documented the moral, emotional, and procedural problems that arise around these decisions, highlighting the conflicts between considering embryos as “potential offspring” or as “donable biological material.” However, in the Spanish context, there are hardly any empirical studies that capture the perspectives of those involved in these decisions. This project aims to fill this gap through a qualitative approach that explores the experiences, motivations, and ethical conflicts of women or people with the capacity to gestate who have generated cryopreserved embryos by undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments, as well as women or people with the capacity to gestate who are considering receiving donated embryos as a reproductive alternative, and healthcare professionals involved in these processes.

The interdisciplinary team that will carry out this research brings together complementary profiles in bioethics, philosophy, biomedicine, clinical embryology, and nursing, allowing them to approach the phenomenon from multiple perspectives. In addition to the principal investigator, Nerea Molina Morales, the team includes Rosana Triviño Caballero, Professor of Bioethics at the Complutense University of Madrid; José Antonio Castilla Alcalá, Professor of Anatomy and Human Embryology at the University of Granada and head of the TEC-14 group at ibs.GRANADA; Mar Vallès Poch, a predoctoral researcher in a joint supervision program between the University of Paris Cité and the University of Granada (CYBE, FiloLab-UGR); María Victoria Martínez López, a nurse and Professor of Nursing at the University of Granada; and David Rodríguez-Arias Vailhen, Professor of Moral Philosophy at the University of Granada, Director of the Youngner Chair in Empirical Bioethics (CYBE), and Deputy Director of the FiloLab Unit of Excellence.

Through qualitative interviews with intended mothers, potential recipients, and healthcare professionals, the study seeks to understand the experiences, values, and ethical conflicts involved in decisions regarding the donation of cryopreserved embryos. Its findings aim to inform the public and professional debate surrounding the ethical management of these embryos and contribute to a broader reflection on reproductive justice and clinical and institutional responsibilities.

This work is part of the University of Granada's commitment to interdisciplinary research and bioethics applied to contemporary challenges in biomedicine and assisted reproduction.

The complete list of selected projects can be found in the Grífols Foundation website.