Frozen embryos’ rightful place with her, says mother

THE three embryos, frozen during fertility treatment undertaken by a woman and her husband prior to their separation, should be returned to their “rightful” place with their mother, the woman told the High Court yesterday.

The woman, a 41-year- old mother of two, said: “We’re still legally married and they are our children and the rightful place for these three frozen embryos is back with their mother to give them the right to life.”

She said the embryos were also the brothers and sisters of her son and daughter, now aged eight and three years.

She said: “To understand how I feel, you have to go through IVF, it’s how our daughter came into this world...when you see the results of IVF, it’s a miracle.”

Earlier, the woman said her 44-year-old husband had failed to return home after a work-related social event in August 2002, when she was seven months pregnant, and that thereafter he began to withdraw from her.

She said he had told her that he was having an affair when their second child, a daughter born as a result of IVF treatment, was four weeks old. This was in late November 2002.

According to her testimony, he moved out for 11 days but returned and stayed until December 26, 2002.

The court heard that attempts at reconciliation later failed and ultimately, judicial separation proceedings were taken in August 2003.

Before her husband left on December 26, 2002, the woman said she asked him what would they do with the frozen embryos.

He said: “We’ll destroy them,” the woman told the High Court.

She said when she asked him again in 2005 what they would do with the embryos, he said to donate them and give the money to a children’s charity. “I said, you want to sell our children?” the woman told the court.

She was giving evidence in her case for a court order to have the embryos implanted in her womb. The action is against her husband, two doctors and the Sims Clinic.

The Attorney General is a notice party for the purpose of addressing any constitutional issues that arise.

The court heard that the embryos are in storage at the Sims Clinic in Rathgar in Dublin and that the clinic has said it cannot release them without the consent of both the man and woman, but it will abide by any order made by the court.

The woman said the husband failed to pay storage fees for the embryos, as agreed during judicial separation proceedings but she paid them after the clinic wrote to her.

The woman said she gave birth to a son in 1997, and after treatment at the Sims Clinic, she gave birth to a daughter in September 2002. Her second pregnancy resulted after three of her eggs, which were fertilised with her husband’s sperm were implanted in her uterus. Three remaining embryos were frozen.

Mr Justice Brian McGovern said he will first give judgment on the issue of whether there was an agreement between the man and woman that the embryos would be returned to the woman’s uterus.

He will also decide, if there was such an agreement, whether it was binding or whether the man could withdraw any consent given to the return of the embryos because of the break-up of the couple’s marriage.

The case continues today.