title: Frozen embryos: a life-saving option.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To discuss an additional option for frozen embryos that can be a life-saving alternative.
  
  
  METHODS
  Case report and literature review.
  
  
  METHODS
  Academic fertility center.
  
  
  METHODS
  A woman with a previous hysterectomy and frozen embryos who had a daughter afflicted with aplastic anemia.
  
  
  METHODS
  Four thawed multicell embryos were transfered to the patient's 37-year-old multiparous sister.
  
  
  METHODS
  Alternative disposition of frozen embryos.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The HLA type of the infant was found to be an exact match for the daughter dying from aplastic anemia.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The use of frozen embryos to prolong an existing individual's life is an additional ethical option to be considered by couples and individuals with cryopreserved embryos.
authors.affiliation: Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Women's Health, University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky, USA.
authors.forename: Lowell T
authors.initials: LT
authors.lastname: Ku
authors.forename: Nanette
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Elster
authors.forename: Steven T
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Nakajima
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000740:Anemia / Q000628:therapy*; D015925:Cryopreservation / Q000379:methods*; D004624:Embryo Transfer / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D013727:Terminal Care / Q000379:methods*