A woman in the United Kingdom has just been granted permission to give birth to her dead daughter’s baby, using her frozen eggs. Permission was granted after a 5-year legal struggle, and was finally allowed citing “exceptional circumstances.” The woman’s daughter died of bowel cancer at age 29, 6 years ago.
The legal struggle came because the mother claims her daughter had given her verbal permission to use her eggs, but the daughter’s wishes were never written out physically, making it a tough call for the court system.
The couple, who wish to remain anonymous, are identified in the press as Mr. and Mrs. M. Mrs. M sought legal permission to use her daughter’s eggs shortly after she passed away in 2011. The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority denied the decision, and the M family appealed twice in 2014, only to be turned down on both occasions on the grounds of insufficient evidence that her daughter wished for her eggs to be used in this manner. [1]
After the rejections, the couple took their case to the High Court, where their case was immediately thrown out. But, the decision was overturned in June 2016 by the Appeal Court, allowing Mrs. M to have her daughter’s eggs sent to New York where Mrs. M will undergo the procedure to impregnate her. They will be using donor sperm instead of Mr. M’s.
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Mrs. M’s lawyer spoke to the BBC about this unique case, stating:
“This case is an incredibly sad story, and we would urge anyone storing eggs or sperm to record as clearly as possible in writing what they intend to happen if they die.”
In the next few months, Mrs. M will travel to New York to begin IVF treatment. Three of her daughter’s eggs will accompany her in order to help her fulfill her daughter’s dying wish of having and raising and child.
Mrs. M made a statement to the British news outlet, the Daily Mail, stating:
“We would like to give our sincere thanks to the judges and are very pleased that the HFEA have agreed to release our beloved daughter’s eggs for export to the US.”