AP reports that a child was born this morning from a frozen embryo rescued from Hurricane Katrina. The life that was in peril in a flooded New Orleans hospital is now with mother, at 8 lb., 6½ oz.

This is why we have to regard embryos as children rather than waste.

The story is initially happy, but one part is troublesome:

Witt is also an in-vitro baby. His embryo was created at the same time as Noah’s, but it was implanted immediately, while five others were frozen in case of miscarriage.

The Markhams aren’t sure if they’ll have a third child.

“I thought three would be the ideal number,” Rebekah Markham has said. But her medical problems have required bed rest for the first three months of each pregnancy. “And I was even more sick with this one than with Witt.”

If you decide to do IVF, don’t leave these guys in the freezer indefinitely. I understand that the process has a high initial cost, and there is a desire to save some embryos back for multiple tries. Each needs to be given a chance. Perhaps fraternal twins are in order; they’re a pretty good blessing too. ;)