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of a protocol for publicly-funded IVF treatment using sperm from a deceased spouse has been branded “bureaucratic and outdated” by a fertility expert.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