1.   At the Jones Institute in Virginia, where scientists are clearly interested in the work, no one has offered to donate embryos, Mayer said.

2.   Boston IVF officals said that couples often ask about donating their embryos to research but that until now the clinic had no options for them.

3.   But while he uses embryos in his own fertility research, he said, he would rather see an embryo donated than destroyed.

4.   Couples may feel better by offering to donate their embryos to others, but that usually does not solve the embryo-disposition problem, Anderson said.

5.   Danciu also said other couples have since inquired about donating embryos.

6.   Dr. Richard Rawlins, laboratory director at the Rush Center for Advanced Reproductive Care in Chicago, said patients there were not asked about donating embryos.

7.   In San Antonio, Pool does not offer patients the option of donating embryos for research.

8.   Patients at the Jones Institute for Reproductive Medicine of Eastern Virginia Medical School, another large center, are also asked to donate embryos for research.

9.   People who donate embryos, in contrast, provide almost none of this information.

10.   Some scientists predict that the promise of stem cell research may encourage more couples to donate embryos for that purpose.