The woman, known only as “Mrs. M” in court records, has been trying since 2014 to have her daughter’s eggs, which are currently frozen in a London facility, fertilized and implanted. Her daughter, known only as “A” in the records, died at age 28 in 2011 after long battle with cancer.
During a period of remission, she had three eggs removed and stored. She was determined to have children, but was too sick to carry them herself. According to the court records, her mother, now 60 years old, offered to carry a child for her, and A accepted. When her illness became terminal, she told her parents she wanted Mrs. M to have her child and that it be raised by them.
After A died, her mother requested the eggs be released to her and her husband (“Mr. M”) to be fertilized by an anonymous sperm donor and implanted. But the country’s governing body for fertility treatments,
The Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority (HFEA), said that A hadn’t filled out all the necessary consent forms prior to her death. It refused to release the eggs, and the M family sued. While the High Court in London ruled with the HFEA in 2015, the Court of Appeal has now ruled for the parents.
While this means it’s still possible that A’s parents will be allowed to take possession of her eggs, it’s not certain. The HFEA will now reconsider its decision, according to the BBC.
Even if it does release the eggs to A’s parents, there’s no guarantee that they will be successfully fertilized and implanted. But it’s certainly not impossible! In January of this year, a 53-year-old Texas woman gave birth to her own granddaughter, while in 2011, a 61-year-old woman gave birth to her grandson.
In both cases, however, their daughters were still alive to raise the children. According to ITV, if successful, Mrs. M would be the first woman in the world to become pregnant with her dead daughter’s eggs.
