[BTirish]

[ QUOTE ]
If Christians believe life begins at the exact moment of conception.

Then is the soul and conscience in a form of suspended animation in a frozen embryo until a time when it is used or discarded?

[/ QUOTE ]

It is not a "Christian belief" that life begins at the moment of conception any more than it is a Christian belief that the sun rises in the east. Anyone who thinks that there is not a genetically unique human life present after conception is uninformed. It is just as alive as any single-celled organism. There are some rather complex concerns over twinning to be sorted out--but my point is that it is not for Christian belief but for science and natural reason to inform us when human life has begun.

Furthermore, it is not merely by reason of Christian belief that I think that the soul is made present at conception.

Now, to answer your question... yes, the intellectual soul is present at conception and hence certainly also at the point when an embryo, after being conceived in vitro, is typically frozen. (This is also after the period in which twinning is possible is over, so that debate can be set aside). What it is to have an intellectual soul is principally to have the capacity for intellectual activity. The development of such a capacity depends upon the development of the body. Whether there is any awareness of any kind by the soul of a frozen embryo is a question that is practically impossible to answer. However, the soul would remain present as long as the embryo remains alive (which it is while it is frozen).