Should We Fear Death? Epicurean and Modern Arguments 264 ovum and sperm cell were selected for in vitro fertilization. For all those years, prior to the IVF procedure being carried out,  the  two  gametes  were  separated  and  cryonically  pre- served. The sperm cell was then used to fertilize the ovum, and, after further medical procedures (involving, let us say, a  volunteer  surrogate  mother),  the  person’s  birth  finally took place. Would she regret the ‘lost’ years when she might have been alive if the IVF procedure had not been delayed? I  doubt  that  regret  would  be  either  appropriate  or  actu- ally experienced in the normal course (if this scenario can be thought of as in any sense normal). However, it is possible to imagine specific circumstances in which regret might be appropriate. What if the gametes were preserved near the end of a time of peace and prosperity, and the person concerned reached her adolescence just as this was ruined by a terrible war?  Perhaps,  in  specific  circumstances  such  as  those,  she would have cause for regret, but the regret would be that her adolescent experiences took place in a worse social environ- ment than might have been, not that she missed out on an additional period of life. Reflection on the circumstances in which we could ratio- nally and consistently regret not being born earlier seems to me to strengthen the Epicurean arguments, at least to this extent: What is regrettable is not the mere fact of not being alive for a period of time. Still, I think that Lucretius can be answered.