On Monday 15 June the High Court ruled that a mother of 59, ‘Mrs M’, cannot have her dead daughter’s baby. The daughter, ‘A’, had her eggs frozen after being diagnosed with bowel cancer at the age of 23.
A had discussed surrogacy with her mother and hoped to raise her own children. As her cancer progressed she signed a form stating that she did not want her eggs to perish in the event that she died.
Her parents told the Court that their daughter had said “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.”
The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) refused, however, to issue a ‘special direction’ for the eggs to be released from the storage facility in Hammersmith in order to be transported to a fertility clinic in New York. The clinic had indicated it would provide £60K fertility treatment with donor sperm.
Although the judge acknowledged that this was indeed “a very sad case”, Mr Justice Ouseley ruled that there was insufficient evidence that A wanted her mother to carry her child. Mr and Mrs M’s claim that the HFEA was disproportionately interfering with their family’s human rights by refusing their request was denied.
The judge stated that the decision was not taken due to any moral concerns over a mother bearing her dead daughter’s baby or due to the mother’s age, but because A did not give written consent for her mother to act as surrogate.
Andrea Williams of Christian Concern notes: “Mr Justice Ouseley made the right decision but failed to acknowledge any moral imperative in this case.
“Just because something is possible does not make it the right thing to do.
“We are going to see an increasing number of cases such as this one. It is vital to continue to uphold and protect God’s good pattern for family life”
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Related Coverage:
Mother's bid to use dead daughter's eggs fails (BBC)