Woman loses final embryo appeal
A woman left infertile after cancer therapy has lost her fight to use embryos fertilised by an ex-partner.Natallie Evans, from Trowbridge, Wilts, and Howard Johnston began IVF treatment in 2001 but he withdrew consent for the embryos to be used after they split up.
She turned to the European courts after exhausting the UK legal process.
Ms Evans, 35, said she was “distraught” after the Grand Chamber of the European Court ruling, but Mr Johnston said “common sense had prevailed.”
Source BBC
I agree, common sense in the courts at last…
Though not everyone would think so….
In giving Howard Evans the right to change his mind after the point of conception the courts have afforded him rights not available to most men. How is that just?
This decision is wrong, wrong,wrong!Gemma, Leighton Buzzard
Can you believe this crap. This heffer is complaining that this man has given as much rights as a woman.. How disgraceful!!!
Tricky one this. On one hand I agree that the dude has fertilised the eggs, therefore he has already technically conceived a child with this woman and destroying them would mean abortion. Had conception been allowed to continue to full term (ie birth into real live children) he would never be able to just go through the courts when they split up and demand they be destroyed. So on that point it is extremely painful for the woman (also for the man I assume, though he is quite happy to kill them…) as she is effectively aborting several pregnancies; fertilised egg = conception = pregnancy
BUT….
He has the right not to become a father against his will. They have split up, circumstances have changed and it may well be the best thing for these poor little sods that they never made it to birth with the two warring parents they evidently have.
Had the conception and pending pregnancy not happened in a test tube he would not have a leg to stand on and could not just walk away from the children when they split (as my poor brother is currently experiencing with his ex who I will call Satan from now on….)
I would probably have seriously considered that my nephew would have been better off being sent right back to heaven than coming down here into the crap that is happening at the moment between his father and Satan if he had had the same start as these embryos.
As this guy unfortunately does have a choice and the woman was silly enough to leave her unborn children hanging in the ether so precariously in the first place (illness or not I can’t get my head around why a woman would take that risk with a relationship…) I’m afraid abortion of the emrbyos was going to be inevitable if they split up and he didn’t fancy being a part time dad.
Sad for her, even sadder for the unborn babies but a tough lesson learned and one which I hope others will learn from . Don’t let anyone into your knickers unless you can trust they’re not going to bail the first chance he gets!!!! She just took it a step further than most of us, she actually let him fertilise her precious ovums, simultaneuously giving him the option to bail in the future…. WTF??!!!
Not clever. Why didn’t she just freeze her eggs unfertilised? Problem solved!!!!
It may sound insensitive, but part of me is glad she lost the case and never will become a mother if she is willing take such a risk with her unborn children…….
Are Darwin awards still happening??!!!