Woman’s race against time for right to use frozen embryos
An application was lodged on behalf of Natallie Evans at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg challenging British law, which requires the destruction of her six stored embryos.
The move was ordered when Ms Evans split up with her fiance, who then withheld permission to use the embryos. Under British law both partners must consent but Ms Evans will argue the embryos themselves have rights under the European Convention of Human Rights, to which Britain is a signatory.
She also claims that banning her from using the embryos is a breach of her own rights to private and family life, guaranteed by the convention. Her solicitor, Muiris Lyons, said the most significant legal argument in the case was that the embryos may have a qualified right to life of their own.
"This argument goes to the heart of the debate about when life is created and the sanctity of human life," Ms Lyons said.
"It is an argument that has not yet been considered by the European Court of Human Rights and the court's ruling could have a profound effect on the law, medicine and science."
But the case could turn into a race against time.
If British law is overturned and Ms Evans is granted the right to use the embryos, she only has until October 2006, when a five-year maximum embryo storage period expires.
A Human Rights Court application can take more than a year to reach court, with many more months before a final verdict. Ms Evans underwent IVF treatment in 2001 with her then fiance Howard Johnston, after being diagnosed with ovarian cancer. The resulting six embryos were stored and she then had surgery to remove her ovaries.
When the couple subsequently broke up, Mr Johnston refused permission to use the embryos.
"I feel that I have to pursue every possible route to save my embryos. I hoped that I could have done so in the UK, but I now have no other choice but to take my case to Europe," she said.
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