Deciding the fate of supernumerary frozen embryos: parents' choices

Embryo cryopreservation is a routine procedure in assisted reproductive technologies. Although couples have been informed about all potential procedures, some of them face the dilemma of what to do with surplus frozen embryos. The purpose of this qualitative study was to evaluate the attitude of patients toward their surplus cryopreserved embryos. Fifty patients who had undergone successful IVF cycles, and had surplus embryos cryopreserved were selected from a clinical database. We could contact twenty two patients agreed to participate in the study and responded the interview. Seventeen participants (77.3%) believed that cryostoraged embryos were 'life'. Patients who would discard embryos rather than donate to research expressed their concern about the misuse of embryos. Those who would discard rather than donate to other couples considered that donating an embryo would be like giving away a child. Seven patients were unsure whether life had begun at this stage of development. Although some couples thought of their embryos as little more than biological material, others envisioned them as living entities or 'virtual' children. The decisions on whether to donate embryos to another couple, or discard them were coloured by strong values about human life and equated with child abandonment.