Grieving Cork woman is being 'blocked' from having a child with dead husband

Despite her husband’s written consent, Melanie Dineen is blocked from accessing public IVF to fulfil their shared dream

Macroom woman Melanie Dineen has been told there is no protocol in place to allow her to use her late husband’s sperm through the public health system. Picture: Dan Linehan

The lack of a protocol for publicly-funded IVF treatment using sperm from a deceased spouse has been branded “bureaucratic and outdated” by a fertility expert.

Last Friday, the Irish Examiner reported on the plight of Cork woman Melanie Dineen, whose husband Dylan Fleming died in March aged 32. 

She had Dylan’s written consent for use of his stored sperm to have the couple’s much-wanted baby. Because Melanie has fertility issues, IVF is the best option for her, according to medical advice the couple received before Dylan’s death.

However, Melanie has been told there is no protocol in place to allow her to use her late husband’s sperm through the public health system.

Posthumous assisted human reproduction through the private system is included under the umbrella of legislation signed into law last July around assisted human reproduction. That legislation is not yet implemented. 

However, the legislation will not include publicly-funded posthumous reproduction, and there are no plans to incorporate it into the schedule of publicly-funded assisted human reproduction services.

Fertility coach Helena Tubridy said posthumous sperm use is medically feasible and ethically accepted in countries like the UK, Australia, and the US.

She said the current lack of a “clear legal framework for posthumous reproduction” was leaving patients in limbo.

 “Publicly funded IVF in Ireland excludes solo parents and posthumous use, despite clear cases of consent and intent," Ms Tubridy said. 

"If a partner consented in writing, that reproductive intent should be honoured. One of my UK clients has had two children posthumously after her husband was killed in active service in Afghanistan — a powerful example of love, legacy, and informed consent.

“This woman is navigating layered grief — losing her partner and now being blocked from their shared wish to have a child. There’s no medical reason to deny her care — the barrier is purely bureaucratic and outdated. Ireland must update its reproductive policies to reflect real lives, not restrict them. 

Compassionate, trauma-informed fertility care must include people experiencing loss and bereavement. 

“This is not a fringe issue — it’s about reproductive autonomy, consent, and the right to build family after loss.” 

Sinn Féin senator Nicole Ryan is seeking to raise Melanie’s plight through a commencement matter in the Seanad, and hopes to be able to address health minister Jennifer Carroll McNeill directly on the issue.

“It is ridiculous that someone who grieving after losing their husband so young, in the last two months, and who had his consent, cannot access the public system. It’s a shame that the government has not foreseen this,” she said.