A 60-year-old woman has won the legal rights to her deceased daughter’s frozen eggs in the second-highest court in Britain.
This decision was made yesterday by the Court of Appeal, and the woman — referred to as simply “Mrs. M.” — plans to use the her daughter’s eggs to give birth to her own grandchild, reports The New York Times.
Using anonymous donor sperm to create embryos with the frozen eggs, Mrs. M. hopes to honor her daughter’s dying wishes. The daughter, who died of bowel cancer in 2011 and age 28, was insistent that her mother gestate and raise her baby.
Unfortunately, the Court of Appeal doesn’t technically have the final say.
It’s actually the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority that needs to give ultimate approval. The authority had initially blocked Mrs. M.’s efforts in 2014, saying her daughter had not given her informed consent to move the eggs from London to a New York clinic. The High Court in London upheld the authority’s decision, which is what brought Mr.s M.’s case to the Court of Appeal.
Thankfully for Mrs. M., the authority said that it would now reconsider the case as a result of the Court of Appeal’s ruling.
I’m completely rooting for Mr.s M. in this case. Although I personally wouldn’t be comfortable with a pregnancy at age 60, I think this mom deserves the chance to honor her daughter’s dying wishes, if that’s what she wants to do.
However, this case isn’t even about IVF in a woman of advanced maternal age, or that she will be gestating her own grandchild. It’s about informed consent.
“They are never going to let me leave this hospital, Mum; 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 the I.V.F. to save my eggs for nothing,” Mrs. M.’s daughter was quoted as saying by the court. “I want you and Dad to bring them up. They will be safe with you. I couldn’t have wanted for better parents. I couldn’t have done without you.”
Sounds legit to me.
What do you think of this decision? Would you be willing to carry and deliver your own grandchildren?
Share your thoughts!