• Having clearly written intentions is crucial when a court may be involved.  Insufficient or ambiguous consent forms can lead to inconsistent court rulings.
• Every state has established trust law, and judges recognize the protection offered by legal trusts.
• Since trust assets are not probate assets, a trust can shelter your genetic material from a probate proceeding.  Your wishes are carried out per the terms of the trust, not the court.
• You can appoint someone to serve as Trustee if you are unable to serve, which ensures someone is available to pay storage fees or sign storage contracts on your behalf.
• If you wish to maintain storage for the benefit of future generations, or for as long as possible, your fertility trust may continue to exist for up to 360 years in the future.

• Limit confusion regarding your wishes by providing loved ones with specific written instructions.
• If you are interested in future donations, what characteristics or life circumstances would your ideal donee possess?  Address marital status, geographic location, religious affiliation, and other characteristics in your fertility trust.
• It’s very important to have written instructions as to whether or not you intend to be the parent of any child conceived after your death.  This can determine the child’s eligibility for governmental benefits and inheritance rights.
• The Fertility Preservation Trust can guide you through important decisions which may affect future generations.

Many clients are interested in preserving their DNA for as long as possible in hopes that medical advancements may allow their DNA to benefit family members in the future.  Gene therapy promises to offer a precise means of permanently curing monogenic diseases, which are caused by an error in a single gene. Monogenic diseases include cystic fibrosis, the hemophilias, and hemoglobin disorders such as sickle cell disease. It is also anticipated that gene therapy will one day enable the treatment of a host of inherited or acquired disorders such as cancer, AIDS, and many others for which there is currently no cure.

Mitochondrial replacement therapy (MRT) is a new form of reproductive in vitro fertilization (IVF) that works on the principle of replacing abnormal mitochondrial DNA which is found in a woman’s egg with the donor’s healthy DNA in order to prevent the mother from passing mitochondrial diseases to the child. MRT has been approved in the United Kingdom for the limited purpose of preventing mitochondrial disease, and is being considered for approval in Australia and Singapore.  MRT has yet to be approved in the United States, but many are hopeful that the FDA will consider this practice in the near future.