The Trump administration appears to have quietly revised language in an obscure federal grant program, redefining frozen embryos as children. The program, titled the Embryo Adoption Awareness and Services program, was first created in 2002 under the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Population Affairs. It currently acts as a “frozen embryo adoption public awareness campaign,” according to the HHS website, and offers nearly $2 million in funding for six organizations that facilitate the adoption of frozen embryos created through in vitro fertilization.
The EAA program has historically been used to help people who are struggling with infertility or LGBTQIA+ couples looking to adopt embryos. But as of last week, the grant has seemingly transformed into a vehicle for anti-abortion rhetoric and fetal personhood ideology.
“OPA’s Embryo Adoption Awareness and Services program recognizes embryo adoption first and foremost as a response to the needs of children who already exist and are in need of a family,” the grant description reads, with the language “children who already exist” referring to embryos.
The 2026 grant description seamlessly replaces “embryo” with “children” or “child” to the point where it’s almost hard to decipher what the OPA is talking about. “Embryo adoption is understood by this program as a response to the existence of surplus embryos already created,” the description states, then refers to an embryo as “the child” throughout: “The program places the best interests of the child at the center of all activities, encompassing the child’s right to know their biological origins and medical history, the child’s right to be placed with adoptive parents who have undergone rigorous screening…”
Reproductive health experts from the National Women’s Law Center, the organization that first drew attention to the change, told HuffPost they’re not particularly concerned about the scope of the impact this revision will have on recipients of the grant. But they are certainly worried about the Trump administration’s intent behind quietly changing this definition in a little-known grant program.
“This is essentially a Trojan horse,” said Dorianne Mason, NWLC’s senior director of health equity and contraceptive access. “It’s this program that on the surface feels like a non-problematic program, but inside of it, the administration has now inserted something that is incredibly harmful.”
Fetal personhood is a long-held conservative belief that fetuses — or even fertilized eggs or embryos — should have the same rights and protected class status as any other child under the age of 18. The anti-abortion movement has been trying for decades to pass personhood laws that would reinterpret when life legally begins and instantly criminalize abortion at all stages of pregnancy.
Defining embryos as children also threatens access to fertility treatments including IVF ― not necessarily through this grant program, but through the federal government recognizing embryos as children in a federal policy. Most recently, the consequences of redefining embryos as children were seen when Alabama IVF clinics were forced to shut down following a state Supreme Court ruling that granted embryos the same legal status as children.
“Inserting this sort of language — referring to an embryo as a person or child — is all part of their long-term plan to eventually ban abortion,” Heather Schumaker, NWLC’s senior director of state abortion access and current lead on fetal personhood work, told HuffPost. “In order to do that, they have to have examples of embryos being treated as children in public policy and law,” Schumaker continued. “So, this is just fuel for that fire — to say, ‘Look, the federal government says that an embryo is in fact a child’ — and that becomes something to lean on when making these arguments.”
HHS’s move may be designed to placate growing fury within the anti-abortion movement as activists contend that President Donald Trump is not doing enough to restrict abortion. Trump has attempted to appease the pro-choice movement since abortion restrictions have not proven to be politically expedient: He’s remained quiet on the ongoing abortion pill debate, pledged to expand access to IVF and has even dubbed himself the “father of IVF” and the “fertilization president.” Meanwhile, his policies around reproductive and maternal health care have little to no impact, and he continues to support and surround himself with anti-abortion judges and lawmakers.
“As a pro-life, pro-family Administration under the leadership of President Trump and Secretary Kennedy, HHS will continue to uphold the dignity of life, strengthen family formation, and promote the health and well-being of the nation’s children,” HHS press secretary Emily Hilliard told HuffPost. The White House did not respond to HuffPost’s request for comment.
EAA grant recipients are not allowed to donate embryos to “embryo-destructive research,” “create new human embryos,” or “pay for, subsidize, promote, or otherwise support discarding or destroying human embryos,” according to the grant application criteria. This criteria means grant organizations can facilitate the adoption of embryos, but not the creation of embryos – which is the core goal of IVF. The grant also underscores that faith-based organizations are “integral partners in this program” and are “among its primary grant recipients” — seemingly signaling a move away from supporting LGBTQIA+ people and couples seeking to start a family.
Danielle Melfi, president and CEO of RESOLVE, a national fertility advocacy group, said her organization is concerned about the revised language. “Any effort to introduce personhood concepts into government programs is alarming because of the potential impact on IVF and other fertility treatments,” Melfi told HuffPost. “Policymakers should be working to protect and expand access to care, not revising federal grants in ways that raise new concerns for patients and their families.”
