A 23-YEAR-OLD woman has won the right to harvest her dead boyfriend’s sperm in order to start the family they had dreamt of.

Ayla Cresswell’s dream to have a family with Joshua Davies was given the green light by a Supreme Court judge on Friday, reports The Courier Mail.

Just hours after Joshua’s sudden death on August 23, Ms Cresswell, a bank worker from Toowoomba in southern Queensland, rushed to court to ensure Joshua’s sperm would remain viable.

Supreme Court Justice Martin Burns granted Ms Cresswell permission to have his “testes and any spermatozoa” removed at Toowoomba hospital.

Justice Burns ordered the tissue be provided to an IVF organisation to store it pending another court application.

Justice Burns also ruled on a similar case in April where Leith Patteson obtained sperm from her dead partner.

Ms Patteson has not yet taken the second step of asking the court for permission to use the tissue.

Ms Cresswell told a court that the couple planned to have three children.

“Joshua told me that he was very excited at the prospect of being a father, and we often talked about having children, and the effect it would have on our lives,” she said.

“It is my honest belief that this is what Joshua would have wanted.

“I think he would be very proud for me to be their mother.”

The couple had been in a relationship for two years and Ms Cresswell’s application had the full support of Mr Davies’ parents.

His dad John Davies said: “Whilst Joshua never discussed this eventuality, I firmly believe that he would be proud for Ayla to have his children.”

Ms Cresswell told the court her parents were also fully supportive of her plans to have Joshua’s babies on her own.

Ms Cresswell said that she and Joshua discussed marriage and looked at engagement rings when they holidayed in Bali in April.

“While he never said so, it was my understanding that Joshua would likely ask me to marry him later this year,” she said.

“Whether we got married or (not) was never in question, it was only a matter of timing.’’