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01/10/2003
Women lose right to save frozen embryos
Two women have lost a High Court bid to gain control over their frozen embryos without the consent of their former partners.
Natallie Evans, 31, and Lorraine Hadley, 38, had been seeking the High Court to rule on whether they could complete an in vitro fertilization programme that had been commenced with former partners.
The two women claimed that the frozen embryos represented their only chanced of conceiving, and had sought to challenge the 1990 Human Fertilization and Embryology (HFEA) Act which states that embryos must be destroyed if couples split up.
Couples receiving counselling on IVF treatment will now have to be informed that embryos will have to be destroyed if there is no mutual consent on the use of the stored embryos.
Judge Justice Ward ruled that, while he had sympathy for the parties, he could not overrule the law as it stood. The women had argued the case on the grounds that the women's human rights were being infringed if they were not allowed to use the embryos.
The judge stated that it should be left to Parliament's to decide if the law needed to be amended.
Both women have suffered fertility problems due to medical conditions and had embryos harvested as part of IVF treatment. Neither of the women's former partners want to father children as the relationships have ended and they would in addition be responsible for supporting the children.
It is understood that the embryos will not be destroyed until the High Court appeals procedure is exhausted.
(SP)
Natallie Evans, 31, and Lorraine Hadley, 38, had been seeking the High Court to rule on whether they could complete an in vitro fertilization programme that had been commenced with former partners.
The two women claimed that the frozen embryos represented their only chanced of conceiving, and had sought to challenge the 1990 Human Fertilization and Embryology (HFEA) Act which states that embryos must be destroyed if couples split up.
Couples receiving counselling on IVF treatment will now have to be informed that embryos will have to be destroyed if there is no mutual consent on the use of the stored embryos.
Judge Justice Ward ruled that, while he had sympathy for the parties, he could not overrule the law as it stood. The women had argued the case on the grounds that the women's human rights were being infringed if they were not allowed to use the embryos.
The judge stated that it should be left to Parliament's to decide if the law needed to be amended.
Both women have suffered fertility problems due to medical conditions and had embryos harvested as part of IVF treatment. Neither of the women's former partners want to father children as the relationships have ended and they would in addition be responsible for supporting the children.
It is understood that the embryos will not be destroyed until the High Court appeals procedure is exhausted.
(SP)
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