Landmark case to halt destruction of embryos

The action is being taken against the women's ex-partners and the fertility clinics involved.

This week their lawyer lodged papers at the High Court in London in advance of next week's hearing.

Lorraine Hadley, 37, and Natallie Evans, 30, want the law changed so they can be artificially inseminated with the fertilised eggs frozen during IVF treatment.

According to rules governing fertility clinics, insemination cannot take place without both partners consenting.

If either partner withdraws permission clinics are legally obliged to destroy the stored embyros.

The women are expected to challenge the law by arguing that the eggs offer the last chance for them to have children and destroying them would be a breach of their human rights.

Their lawyer said the law gave the women's respective partners complete veto on the use of the embryos. He said the women would argue the law was unfair and would be hoping to persuade a court to change it.

They will use the analogy that if they got pregnant naturally and the embryos were in their bodies, their partners would not have any say at all.

In Ms Hadley's case an initial attempt to create a child using fertility treatment with her now ex-husband, Wayne, failed. Two eggs were frozen so they could try again, but before they could, the marriage collapsed.

Ms Evans had IVF treatment with her then fiancee Howard Johnston, but the relationship collapsed before the eggs could be implanted.