Who gets to decide what happens
to frozen embryos after a breakup? It is the newest type of custody battle but
it is also a matter of life and death. Sophia’s ex-boyfriend Nick Loeb filed a
complaint in a California court to prevent their two frozen embryos from
ever being destroyed. He wants those kids
to be born at any age with or without the mom involved. In November 2013, just
6 months before the couple broke up they used in vitro fertilization (IVF) to
create embryos planning eventually to use a surrogate. At the time both signed an agreement that the
embryos should be destroyed in the event that either one or both died but now
he wants them preserved at all cost.
Sophia has not agreed to that.
When you decide to have IVF with
someone you are not married to there are lots of agreement papers to be signed.
Most of the language in these contracts say that both of you have to agree. The
reason the contracts are so detailed and specific are because it is all about
life or death. With more than 600,000
frozen embryos in the United States alone, advances in reproductive technology are
outpacing the law and the courts are filling up with battles.
A happy family decided to donate
their unborn embryos to Alzheimer’s research, the disease a family member
suffers from. All these situations raise complicated questions. Sophia may have
the upper hand with her lawsuit with Nick. The reality no matter how offensive considers
the embryos as property. When you sign
up for IVF, the specific contracts lay out rules and terms of what happens to
that property. As the contracts say,, If
they can’t agree then the embryos are considered abandoned. So, what should
happen after a breakup? Who has the right to decide to keep or destroy an embryo?
Yes, it is a new era in parenting.
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