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posted by LaminatorX on Wednesday July 15 2015, @09:25PM   Printer-friendly
from the irreconcilable-differences dept.

A court battle between a divorced couple over the future of their frozen embryos began Monday with an attorney for the former husband accusing the woman of using the dispute to get money.

Dr. Mimi Lee, 46, a pianist and part-time anesthesiologist, married Stephen Findley, a wealthy executive, five years ago. Shortly before the wedding, Lee learned she had breast cancer.

Unsure whether the disease would make it impossible for her to have children, the couple went to a fertility center, where Lee's eggs and Findley's sperm created five embryos, now frozen.

Findley filed for divorce two years ago and wants the embryos destroyed. Lee, now infertile, wants to implant the embryos into a surrogate and have a baby. Without the embryos, she will never have a child who shares her genes.

If the embryos are implanted and carry to term, the ex-husband becomes a father without consent. If the embryos are destroyed, the ex-wife is denied the deep need to procreate. The embryos themselves have issues either way. Modern biomedical ethics are complex.


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  • (Score: 4, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 15 2015, @10:20PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 15 2015, @10:20PM (#209649)

    If ownership wasn't explicitly agreed on then they each get half of the fertilized embryos.

    That should be "half of each embryo", Solomon!

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  • (Score: 3, Funny) by davester666 on Thursday July 16 2015, @03:44AM

    by davester666 (155) on Thursday July 16 2015, @03:44AM (#209785)

    Hey, yeah. Just take out the sperm!

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 16 2015, @01:48PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 16 2015, @01:48PM (#209917)

    "Here's your 23 chromosomes (not pairs), have fun with it"

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 18 2015, @11:45AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 18 2015, @11:45AM (#210751)

      If that were possible, that would be a good solution, then she could get them fertilised by someone else. As they signed a contract which dealt with the contingency of divorce, I'm wondering why she didn't also have some unfertilised eggs frozen.