Couples Fight For Custody of Frozen Embryos

Two couples in Missouri are due to appear in court regarding a lawsuit over the custody of two frozen embryos:

• The Lamberts had four fetilized embryos left-over after successfully using in vitro fertilization to give birth to a child.
• The Lamberts entered into a contract with the McLaughlins in February of 2009 which gave the McLaughlins custody of the embryos.  
• Both couples refer to the donation agreement as an adoption. The agreement provided that the Lamberts could revoke the contract if the embryos were not used within one year.
• The McLaughlins successfully used two of the embryos, but before the other two could be used, the Lamberts located a new family for the remaining embryos.
• Last week the Lamberts filed suit in a Missouri court to get the embryos back.  

It should be interesting to see how the courts deal with this “adoption agreement” dispute.

See Heather Knight, Donated frozen embryos spawn dueling lawsuits, SF Chronicle, April 10, 2010.

Special thanks to Joel Dobris (Professor of Law, UC Davis School of Law) for bringing this to my attention.