Husband cannot stop implantation of embryos, court told

A MAN who separated from his wife after agreeing to her undergoing fertility treatment, cannot stop her having the remaining embryos implanted in her womb because of the Constitution and various documents signed by him, the Supreme Court has heard.

Opening the woman’s appeal against the High Court’s refusal to compel a Dublin fertility clinic to release the remaining embryos to her, Gerard Hogan SC argued that the state, because of the 1983 constitutional amendment requiring it to protect and vindicate the right to life of the unborn, must facilitate the implantation of the remaining embryos.

Counsel also said the woman could not be denied implantation as she wanted to provide “a home” for the embryos.