Mother goes to court over rights to her dead daughter's frozen eggs

The Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority refuses to turn over the eggs, as the daughter did not formally file consent.

The Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has refused to issue a "special direction" allowing a dead daughter's parents to transport her frozen eggs from her storage facility in London to a clinic in New York, arguing that the daughter did not leave any consent as the mother claims.

MUNTINLUPA, PHILIPPINES (Catholic Online) - The refusal prompted the mother to launch a legal battle against the independent regulator, according to the Independent UK report. The frozen eggs are planned to be implanted in complainant's womb, asserting that it was their only daughter's last wish.

The daughter died by bowel cancer in her late twenties, leaving her eggs frozen with hopes to be fertilized by a donor sperm inside her mother's womb, said the parents. With this request, the couple wants to transfer the eggs to a fertility treatment clinic in New York that has agreed to do the IVF procedure.

The treatment is estimated to cost about $93,000, according to the Independent.

"I have never heard of a surrogacy case involving a mother and her dead daughter's eggs. It's fair to say that this may be a world first," said Dr. Mohamed Taranissi of the ARGC fertility clinic in London.

However, the HFEA will not allow the eggs to be imported without due jurisdiction, which requires the written consent of the daughter, who apparently only left a consent that her eggs be frozen and stored after her death for future use.

Without a separate form filled pertaining to how her eggs be used, the consent the parents speak of is technically invalid. The daughter died in 2011, single and without further instructions.

At the moment, there has been an application filed for judicial review, anonymously "M vs. the HFEA," as the family wants to keep their identity secret.

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