Judge Rules That Embryos Are to be Destroyed After Divorce

The world has been watching a landmark case regarding frozen embryos in the San Francisco area. The couple had the embryos frozen when the woman, Mimi Lee, was diagnosed with cancer in 2010 and wanted to preserve her chance of having children in the future. When the couple divorced recently, Lee wanted to be able to use the frozen embryos, but now-ex-husband Stephen Findley wanted them to be destroyed. The judge sided with the husband, citing the contract that the two signed with the fertility clinic saying that in case of divorce, the embryos would be destroyed.

This ruling has a huge impact for those who adopt frozen embryos as well; often, couples don’t use all of the embryos they’ve adopted in the first transfer and will have remaining embryos. Making provisions for those embryos must be done. No one wants to think they are going to get sick or get a divorce or lose their spouse. Life in unpredictable, though, and making sure you consider and address potential legal issues in the future to protect your frozen embryos is important.

Sign up for a webinar addressing the topic of making legal decisions early for your frozen embryos. This webinar is happening on February 10th – no charge, unless you're interested in CEU credit. You’ll be able to join an in-depth discussion with an attorney about making legal choices for your embryos to ensure they are protected in the event of a tragedy. The webinar will last one hour and you’ll have an opportunity to ask questions at the end. Sign up for this webinar at www.embryoadoption.org.

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