European Court Of Human Rights Rules British Woman Cannot Use Frozen Embryos Without Former Fiance's Consent

Main Category: Fertility
Also Included In: Women's Health / Gynecology
Article Date: 16 Apr 2007 - 12:00 PDT

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The European Court of Human Rights' final appellate court, the Grand Chamber, on Tuesday upheld a ruling that a British woman does not have the right to use frozen embryos for in vitro fertilization without the permission of the man with whom the embryos were created, Reuters/Washington Post reports (Reuters/Washington Post, 4/10). The case involves Natallie Evans, who created six embryos with her former fiance, Howard Johnston, before undergoing cancer treatments that left her infertile. The relationship later ended, and Johnston withdrew his consent to allow the embryos to be used for IVF. In the legal challenge, Evans argued that the United Kingdom's 1990 Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act prevents her from using the embryos and violates her human rights. The law says that embryos created for IVF must be destroyed unless both parties who contributed genetic material consent to their storage and use. Evans said that if she had become pregnant naturally and the embryo was in her body, Johnston would not have had a say over whether she had a right to use the embryos. The U.K. High Court in 2003 ruled against Evans (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 3/8/06). A seven-judge panel of the European Court of Human Rights in March 2006 rejected Evans' appeal in a 5-2 decision (Kirby/Meade, Independent, 4/10). The Grand Chamber of the court in a 13-4 ruling upheld the panel's decision (Dyer/McVeigh, Guardian, 4/11). The opinion said there had been no violation of the right to life, the prohibition of discrimination or the right to respect for private and family life protected in Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. "The Grand Chamber considered that, given the lack of European consensus, the fact that the domestic rules were clear and brought to the attention of the applicant and that they struck a fair balance between the competing interests, there had been no violation of Article 8," the court in a statement said (Reuters/Washington Post, 4/10). The U.K. Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority said it expects the clinic where the embryos are stored to destroy them within the next month (Guardian, 4/11).

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