Tony Deane's parents want to make sure his sperm is destroyed.

A Hamilton family are attempting to get their dead son's testes destroyed in an effort to stop his former girlfriend having his baby.

Tony Deane died in April 2016 of suspected suicide in Australia after moving across the Tasman for a relationship.

The 34-year-old was introduced to Leith Patterson, then 43, through a friend on the internet in August with Deane moving to Australia two months later.

But six months after that, as Tony was on life support, Patterson sought court permission to take his testes and sperm as she said that they had been trying for a child.

READ MORE: Australian woman likely to apply for Kiwi man's sperm

Patterson's request was granted and her late-partner's testes were removed just a day after his death.

The Queensland Supreme Court ruled the testes and sperm were to be provided to an IVF organisation and stored pending a future application for their use by Patterson.

While there has been no application to use the sperm, Tony's parents Phil and Gaye Deane want to prevent it happening by applying to the court to have it destroyed..

"For closure for us we want it destroyed, it's probably the only way we will get closure," Gaye said.

Tony Deane has a daughter from a previous relationship living in New Zealand and Gaye said he was very much a family man loved by his daughter, family, and friends.

"There is no way Tony would want a child brought into the world this way."

The Deane family brought Tony's body home for burial in May but feel that they were given an ultimatum at the time of their son's death - agree to have Tony's testes removed and Patterson would not oppose his body being returned to New Zealand.

An email from Patterson's Australian lawyer David Riwoe at the time stated: "I have been instructed that if consent for the removal of sperm is given (for the sole purpose of our client's IVF treatment) our client will not oppose any request to return Tony's body to New Zealand."

The family was devastated after losing their son and wanted to take him home and Gaye Deane said they felt they had no choice but to agree to the request.

Tony's parents hadn't known about Patterson's application until nine hours after his life support had been switched off or that within six months of knowing Tony, Patterson had become his next of kin.

They met her for the first time at the hospital and then for only an hour. In previous video calls from Tony in Australia Patterson had been nearby but Phil and Gaye seldom saw her or got to know her.

Gaye said it had taken until now for the family to pursue the situation further as they had been distracted by a string of tragedies soon after Tony's death in April, including Gaye's mother dying in August 2016 and her husband's mother in October of that year.

When contacted for comment Riwoe said via email that he had not been able to speak to Patterson.

"However, I have no reason to believe that my client's past position has changed.

He confirmed that Patterson had not yet filed her next application to use the sperm, but still wants to do so.

"She may file the next application within the next twelve months.

"She would object to any application to destroy the stored sperm (in consideration the deceased's family explicitly stated that they had no objection to the sperms removal on the terms of the first application)."

The Deane family have set up a Givealittle page to help fund their legal quest.