Julie Garber, Who Froze Embryos for Future Use
ANAHEIM — Julie L. Garber, who preserved her embryos to produce future children after she learned she was dying of leukemia, has died at age 28.
Brought up in the Peralta Hills area of Orange County, Garber was educated at San Diego State University and went into real estate with her mother.
She became the subject of various feature articles because of her valiant struggle with a rare blood cancer known as acute lymphoblastic leukemia. After she was blinded by radiation and chemotherapy treatments and was no longer able to walk, Garber studied at the Braille Institute and had regular workouts at a gym. Also active in Toastmasters, Garber gave inspirational speeches about overcoming handicaps.
When she became aware that the disease was terminal, she had eggs surgically removed from her womb, fertilized with sperm and frozen. The frozen embryos have been stored with a Newport Beach doctor, and her parents, Jean and Dr. Howard Garber, plan to seek a surrogate mother to produce a child.
Garber died Wednesday in Anaheim of leukemia.
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