Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is calling for a review of policies related to lung transplants for children. Sebelius sent a letter Friday to the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network. The agency is under contract with the government.

The letter comes as the parents of Sarah Murnaghan, a ten year old with late-stage cystic fibrosis, are circulating a petition on Change.org to have the rules for lung donation changed. The Murnaghans say Sarah’s chance for lifesaving surgery has been denied because she is a child.

Sarah is at the top of a list for a donation of lungs for children. She has been on the waiting list for 18 months. However, there are few child donors. While Sarah’s doctors say she may benefit from adult lungs, the current rules say that all other adults in need will be offered any available lungs first. Sarah father, Fran Murnaghan, told ABC News his daughter is “being left to die.”

Sarah remains on a ventilator at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.  According to her Change.org page, without new lungs, she may live only another few weeks.

Dr. Devang Doshi is the director of Pediatric Pulmonology at Beaumont Children’s Hospital in Michigan. Dr. Doshi told ABC News that patients with cystic fibrosis, a genetic disorder, only have an average life expectancy of 31 years.

The Health Resources and Services Administration say there were ten lung transplants completed on children ten years old and younger in 2012.  In comparison, there were over 1700 lung transplants performed on patients 11-years and older.

The letter from Secretary Sebelius did not specifically mention the Murnaghan case. However, she called the difference between the number of donors needed and patients waiting “stark.”

Any changes to policy will not be soon enough for Sarah. Her parents are hoping other parents will specifically designate their daughter as a recipient. In a statement, they said ” Our little girl, who loves writing music, making crafts and playing with her siblings can honor someone’s life by living on herself.”