Frozen generation

Science | Half a million embryos wait in a cryogenic limbo whose parameters few doctors, theologians, or parents can define | Lynde Langdon

Matt and Andrea Thomas spotted each other walking across campus at Texas A&M University, struck up a conversation, and fell in love. They married after graduation and found jobs in Austin, Texas—Matt as an engineer and Andrea as a teacher. Having children seemed like the next step in their lives together.

The next step turned out to be a six-year journey, the first two of which they spent trying to conceive a child naturally. Not long after their first visit to a fertility doctor, they found out that a specialized form of in vitro fertilization was the only procedure that would give them a chance to conceive. Their options were clear, but their decision was painstaking.

Over the next four years, the Thomases enlisted the prayer and counsel of what seemed like everyone they knew. Their pastor at All Saints Presbyterian Church prayed for them from the pulpit. Sunday school children would pass by Mrs. Thomas at church and say, "I'm praying for God to give you a baby."