A cryogenic solution to the inconsistency problem

In response to the often tragic condition of infertility, modern medical science has offered an alternative path to having children through technologies like in-vitro fertilization (IVF). IVF involves the ex-utero production of fertilized embryos that are transferred to the woman, but more embryos are fertilized than transferred to maximize the chance of successful implantation. These excess, or supernumerary, embryos are cryogenically preserved, discarded, or donated to science or another person experiencing infertility. For those who affirm the personhood of embryos after conception, hereafter person-at-conception (PAC) theorists, the existence of these supernumerary embryos raises issues for the ethical status of IVF. While critics say that one cannot simultaneously support pro-life protections for embryos and IVF, there is a way for PAC theorists to advocate for both the protection of human embryos and access to IVF. By calling for all unused embryos to be frozen indefinitely with the aim of implantation or adoption, PAC theorists can support, and even utilize, IVF. Call this the cryogenic argument. I argue that PAC theorists can solve the IVF inconsistency problem using the cryogenic argument, and thus PAC theorists can remain consistent in their pro-life views even if supernumerary embryos created during IVF remain frozen perpetually or expire during cryopreservation. To make this argument, I start by explaining the IVF inconsistency problem. Then I offer the cryogenic argument as a solution for PAC theorists, using the principle of double effect to support my reasoning. Finally, I respond to four objections.