A 60-year-old woman from the UK has been fighting for the right to her daughter’s frozen eggs since her death in 2011 from cancer. Her daughter allegedly asked for her mother to “carry my babies,” but written consent was not obtained before she died.


The Telegraph reports that the unnamed woman and her husband have won their Court of Appeals case on Thursday. Sir James Munby, Lady Justice Arden, and Lord Justice Burnett have remitted their case to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority for further review.

The HFEA has been insisting that the deceased woman, identified as “A,” did not know all pertinent information necessary to make an informed decision about having her mother carry her child. The original rule from the High Court that was being contested was delivered by Mr Justice Ouseley, who said the HFEA was correct in asserting that A did not give the required consent for the release of the eggs. Lady Justice Arden disagreed:

“First, there was on the face of it the misstatement of certain of the evidence about A’s consent by the committee. “Second, even if what the committee meant was that there was a lack of effective consent because the appellants could not show that A received information on certain matters, the decision was flawed because the committee pointed to the lack of certain evidence without explaining why A needed to receive that information and give that consent. “The third level is that the committee did not ask the prior question of what information the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act required to be given to A in the circumstances of her case.”


OK, whatever: Can we talk about this lady having her own grandkid? It’s easy to imagine that the HFEA simply doesn’t want to be associated with such a bizarre outcome of their work, which is why they’re fighting the grieving family’s wishes to such an extent. They are contesting the appeal decision, saying Mr Justice Ouseley “did not err in concluding that the HFEA’s decision was lawful.”

Image via AP.