I was watching a TV show today where the wife in a couple was sentenced to 30 years in prison, and thought about how it was kind of sad their kid would be an only child. Of course, that got me thinking…
If a real-life couple has IVF and freezes embryos, do both of the parents need to consent before contracting a surrogate? Say an actual couple in the situation above had frozen some embryos, are there laws to compel the dad to ask his wife’s permission before he decides that junior really does need a sibling or two, despite mom’s predicament preventing her from being part of the pregnancy?
Most US states have no laws whatsoever addressing surrogacy, and there is only a smattering of case law out there governing disputed ownership of embryos. What little law there is generally holds that consent of both intended parents is necessary before an embryo can be implanted (or destroyed).
Most of western Europe bans surrogacy altogether, if I recall correctly, so the question wouldn’t arise there. In the places that do permit it (UK, Netherlands, Sweden), my guess is that dual consent is probably required.
Davis v. Davis ruled that the consent of both parties is needed to transplant frozen embryos. The wife wanted to carry her soon-to-be-ex-husband’s embryos or donate them for implantation, the husband said “No Way.” The court sided with the husband.
There’s been an ongoing battle between Sofia Vergara and an ex over fertilized eggs. She’s won the most recent battle but no doubt it will go on and on.
Note the case was filed in Louisiana due to the laws there despite it basically being a pure California case.
Lawyers.
Even if you think the couple are “already parents” legally (which many people don’t agree with), the change in status from frozen to implanted still requires a personal choice that I don’t see anyone else interfering with.
A couple I know found out that the husband was going to pass away (they had like a week’s notice or some awful short amount of time), and they had some fertilized embryos left over from a previous ivf attempt and the family lawyer insisted that the husband write a codicil (?) to his will saying that EITHER or BOTH his widow or their other child had his permission in perpetuity to continue to store, or to unfreeze and use, or to destroy the embryos at their own discretion.
So people are thinking about it. Whether it’s legally valid, I don’t know. She is hoping to eventually try for a full sibling to her kid tho. I hope they let her do it.