She wants to use their frozen embryos to get pregnant, while her ex-husband prefers to donate them to other couples who are seeking to have children. After a couple divorces, what should happen to embryos that haven’t yet been implanted?
This issue is now before the Ohio Supreme Court, in a case that could provide insight into how justices interpret the state’s voter-approved reproductive rights constitutional amendment. The amendment safeguards individuals’ rights to make their own reproductive decisions, including those related to abortion or fertility treatments.
The high court has agreed to hear the case of a former couple from Summit County, referred to in court documents by the initials R.N. and E.B.N.
The 9th District Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the ex-wife, stating that her desire to become pregnant outweighs her ex-husband’s “procreational-autonomy rights.” He argued that the appeals court’s decision would force him into becoming an “involuntary parent.”
In court filings, the ex-husband’s attorneys argued that the case centers on whether someone can obtain a court order forcing another person to become a parent before any pregnancy occurs. If the appeals court’s decision is upheld, he contends, it could discourage couples across the state from pursuing in vitro fertilization (IVF).
The couple, who married in August 2016, began fertility treatments shortly afterward. IVF resulted in 14 embryos. Before contributing genetic material, both signed a contract agreeing that in the event of separation or divorce, neither could use the embryos without the other’s consent.
The couple divorced in January 2019 in Summit County, and the fate of the embryos became a point of contention during the divorce proceedings. During this time, the wife, who was in her late 30s, was treated for thyroid cancer and advised by doctors not to attempt pregnancy for a year following radiation treatment.
The trial judge in the divorce case decided that the frozen embryos should be donated to other couples, leading the ex-wife to appeal the decision.