A 60-year-old mother has won an appeal to use her dead daughter's frozen eggs to become a grandmother, after an original High Court ruling prohibiting this on the grounds that no written consent had been given.
The daughter, who died in 2011, had her eggs frozen after being diagnosed with bowel cancer at the age of 23, and the mother claimed she was asked to carry her babies.
Earlier this year the mother was granted permission to challenge the decision at the Court of Appeal in London, before a panel of three judges.
Christian Concern's Chief Executive, Andrea Williams, said that she is “deeply saddened” by the ruling, warning that it sets a dangerous precedent for future cases like this.
No written permission
The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) originally refused to release the eggs because the mother had not provided full written permission. In a High Court ruling last year, Mr Justice Ouseley upheld the decision by the HFEA that there had been no breach of the family's human rights by banning the move.
In previous hearings, it was claimed that the daughter had told her mother on her death bed:
"They are never going to let me leave this hospital – the only way I will get out of here will be in a body bag. I want you to carry my babies. I didn't go through IVF to save my eggs for nothing."
HFEA to reconsider case
In the latest legal proceedings, lawyers acting for the mother told the judges she wanted to fulfil her daughter's wishes for her to carry a child created from her frozen eggs.
Jenni Richards QC said that if the judges did not overturn the High Court's ruling, the eggs "will simply be allowed to perish".
Ms Richards argued that there was "clear evidence" of what the daughter, known only as 'A', wanted to happen to her eggs after she died, and that "all available evidence" showed she wanted her mother "to have her child after death".
The HFEA said it would now reconsider the case as soon as possible.
"Today's judgment by the Court of Appeal reaffirms the need for informed consent but concludes that there is sufficient evidence of Mr and Mrs M's daughter's true wishes."
'Moral and ethical minefield'
After the woman was granted permission in February to appeal the High Court ruling, Andrea Williams said: "This is a moral and ethical minefield. Rather than grieving the loss of her daughter the mother is now trying to 'replace' the loss by trying to have a granddaughter by carrying her dead daughter's egg.
"It is painful and hard, but this cannot be the answer.
"The best interests of the child that may be born have not been taken into account in this case. The mother is the grandmother and 60 years, grieving her daughter and the genetic mother of the child. “The father would be a sperm donor. The child would be deliberately deprived of both his or her mother and father. All to satisfy the possible wishes of a dying woman and the grieving mother she has left behind.
"Hard cases make bad law. This is highly emotionally charged but it is important that right moral and ethical choices are made."
Children are gifts, not commodities
Philippa Taylor of Christian Medical Fellowship (CMF) has also responded to the case in this piece. She highlights how the parents' interests are often prioritised over that of the child – in this case in a way that “erodes human dignity".
"In Christian thought children are gifts, given to us to love and care for. They are not commodities that we choose or own. This is not a popular concept in a culture that values self-fulfillment so highly.
"It is possible to have genuine sympathy for the family's tragedy in facing the death of their only child but, rather than solely grieving the loss of her daughter, the mother seems to be trying to 'replace' her loss by carrying her dead daughter's baby, aided and abetted by others.
"This is yet another sad example of society's desperate attempts to find new ways to cheat death which is driving us to ignore or stifle a deep-seated sense of repugnance, and to permit practices that erode human dignity and undermine societal goods."
Related Links:
Woman wins appeal to use dead daughter's eggs (BBC)
Mother permitted to give birth to her dead daughter's child (Christian Medical Fellowship)
Woman in legal challenge to use dead daughter's eggs