Court Permits Mom To Appeal Against Ban On Using Dead Daughter’s Frozen Eggs

The Court of Appeal has recently granted permission to a woman to appeal in a posthumous case that involves her dead daughter's stored frozen eggs. The mother has been banned from using the frozen eggs to conceive a grandchild.

The Guardian reported that the hope of a 60-year-old British woman to be allowed to conceive a baby using her dead daughter's frozen eggs were kept alive after the court ruled that she could bring an appeal to lift the ban. The woman's daughter, who died of cancer at the age of 28, had her eggs frozen in 2008 after fearing that cancer treatment might leave her unable to bear children.

"It seems to me that it is arguable that the HFEA and the [high court] judge took too stringent an approach to the question of special directions," Lord Justice Treacy said in a two-page decision. "There had been a failure to approach the available evidence correctly in relation to ... a conversation between the [daughter] and the mother."

According to the Family Law, the woman and her husband are seeking to transport their dead daughter's eggs to a fertility treatment clinic in the United States after they were denied treatment in the U.K. The parents sought permission from the Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority (HFEA ) to export the stored eggs; however, their request was not granted.

Challenging HFEA's decision, the couple applied for judicial review to the High Court. But the High Court judge has initially refused their judicial review in June 2015.

"My husband and I welcome the Court of Appeal's decision to allow our appeal to go forward," the woman said in a statement after the recent development of their case. "We were naturally devastated by the previous ruling of the court which (if not overturned) will mean that our daughter's stored eggs will have to be destroyed."

"We hope that the Court of Appeal will recognize the overwhelming evidence of her wishes," the mother added. "We know that the chances of conceiving a grandchild are very small, but in the unlikely event we are successful, it would mean the birth of a child who would be loved and cherished by us and the rest of our family."