Compassionate transfer: patient requests for embryo transfer for nonreproductive purposes.

ABSTRACT

A patient request to transfer embryos into her body in a location or at a time when pregnancy is highly unlikely to occur is deemed a request for "compassionate transfer" and often reflects the patient's deeply personal, strongly held preferences and values. It is ethically permissive for physicians to honor or decline such requests if they do so in a nondiscriminatory manner.