Posted on 03/07/2006 10:06:49 AM PST by Airborne1986
LONDON, England -- The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that a British woman has no right to use frozen embryos to have a baby without the consent of the man who provided the sperm.
The court upheld a UK law that says permission from both parents is needed at every stage of the in vitro fertilization (IVF) process, as well as for the storage and implantation of the fertilized eggs.
Natallie Evans, 34, underwent IVF in 2001 with her partner Howard Johnston ahead of ovarian cancer treatment which rendered her infertile.
The couple later split and he withdrew his consent for the embryos to be used, triggering a drawn-out legal battle.
Evans was defeated in the British courts and faced an order to destroy the embryos. With time running out for the use of her stored embryos, she turned to the European court, based in Strasbourg, France.
But on Tuesday judges backed the British law, effectively signaling the eventual destruction of the six embryos which held Evans's only hopes of having a child that is genetically hers.
Johnston argued he did not want the financial or emotional burden of being a father to a child he would not bring up....
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
disturbing.
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