London -
A mother fighting to use her dead daughter’s eggs to give birth to her own grandchild told appeal judges on Wednesday that the pregnancy had been her daughter’s dying wish.
The 60-year-old said her daughter, who died from bowel cancer in 2011 when she was 28, had “never wavered” in her wish to have children.
Her eggs were harvested and stored at a fertility clinic in West London during her five-year cancer battle because of fears the treatment would leave her infertile.
The mother told the Court of Appeal that her daughter asked her to use her frozen eggs, even though she knew she would not live to see the baby or watch it grow up.
When her parents asked for the eggs in 2013, after they arranged to use a clinic in New York, the fertility watchdog - the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority - did not object because of the mother’s age or the child’s welfare.
Instead it refused on the grounds that the couple’s daughter had not given full consent for them to be taken abroad.
The couple, who can be identified only as Mr and Mrs M, lost a High Court bid to overturn that decision and have now asked the Court of Appeal to rule in their favour.
If they succeed, it is believed it will be the first time a British court has given permission for such a pregnancy to go ahead.
If they fail, the eggs could be destroyed.
In a statement to the court, Mrs M said her daughter had been clear about her wishes. She said: “She had suffered terribly, this was one constant from which she never wavered.”
Jenni Richards QC said the daughter was the couple’s “much-loved only child”, adding: “Her wish was for her mother to carry her baby, whether in life or after her death.”
A decision is expected later this year.
Daily Mail