A 60-year old woman fighting a seemingly never-ending legal battle has finally won her case — almost.
The British plaintiff, whose daughter died in 2011 from bowel cancer, has been granted access to use her late child’s frozen eggs to carry and give birth to her grandchildren.
The mother, known as Mrs. M for legal reasons, claims she swore to be her daughter’s surrogate and raise the child as her own to continue the family.
Yesterday, she convinced the Court of Appeal in London to let her try again to convince British medical authorities to let the procedure go ahead, the Daily Telegraph reported.
Mrs. M needs the Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority’s permission to move her daughter’s eggs from Britain to New York, where doctors may be willing to undertake the risky procedure.
She had previously been slapped down for failing to convince them she had consent – but the HFEA must now consider their decision again.
The legal battle has split opinion – with many disturbed at the prospect of giving birth, effectively, to one’s own grandchild:
Too Sick, Too Weird! Mother Fights to Carry Late Daughter’s Frozen Eggs to Give Birth to Her Own Grandchild (Video) https://t.co/8qNs9zjwnw
— Marybeth Haydon (@Revive_Hope) February 26, 2016
@Independent and is anyone even thinking of the poor child which will be born in this.
— peter wildsmith (@elmopete85) June 30, 2016
While others applauded her bravery:
@BBCBreaking what's the problem with this? I genuinely think it's quite touching.
— TonyMario (@BeatCityTone) June 30, 2016
However, despite the legal victory, Mrs M’s battle is nowhere near a close. Her win allows her case to be newly reviewed, but the ultimate decision remains in the unapologetic hands of HFEA.
Even if Mrs. M were to conquer the seemingly impossible, she would need to travel to New York for the fertilization process and to actually give birth.
I fear the cost of this case wasn't worth it. Likelihood 60+ woman conceiving with frozen donor eggs is minuscule https://t.co/COGxU6NKAG
— Kathryn Rogers (@mrskatrogers) June 30, 2016
Additionally, at the age of 60, and even older when the process is underway, IVF pregnancy success rates drop as low as to five percent – meaning biology could foil her attempt even if the law allows it.
