Cork woman refused access to her dead husband's sperm, despite his written consent 

After being referred while her husband was still alive, Macroom woman Melanie Dineen has now been told there is no protocol in place in the public system to use the samples of a deceased spouse. Picture: Dan Linehan

A Cork woman who wants to use her dead husband’s stored sperm to have a child has been told there is no protocol for her to do so through the public health system. The refusal comes even though her husband gave his written consent before his death.

Melanie Dineen’s husband Dylan Fleming passed away on March 9, having been diagnosed with urethral cancer less than a year earlier. They had married just a month before his death.