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.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by scruffybeard on Thursday July 16 2015, @01:18AM
But Whittier Law School’s Daar said that waiver “has no legal meaning.”
I agree 100%. Seeing how she has already signed an agreement to destroy the embryos in the case of a divorce, why should anyone believe her when she says she would release him from child support.
(Score: 5, Informative) by sjames on Thursday July 16 2015, @01:44AM
Beyond that, there has been a case where a woman went on public assistance and the state sued the sperm donor against the wishes of the mother and of the signed agreement that he would have no paternal rights of responsibilities.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by choose another one on Thursday July 16 2015, @09:11AM
Easy solution to the child support issue is for her to setup a court controlled trust fund that will pay her support, in the event that any claim is made against the father, the fund goes to him, so he can pay support from it. If she hasn't got the money up front then the fund could be setup by insuring her income and her life in some way, I guess.
If she doesn't have the money and can't get life/health/income insurance (she has already had cancer...) then that should be a big clue to her that she shouldn't be doing this.