Jalesi McQueen and Justin Gadberry had a healthy set of twins eight years ago using in vitro fertilization and all assumed it was the start of a happy family after the difficult quest to conceive. Flash forward eight years and any harmony from those days is gone as a nasty divorce battle pits the former lovers against each other over control not of their living children, but of the remaining embryos from the fertilization process which Ms. McQueen seeks to use. Now, an anti-abortion group has signed on to the case and is supporting Ms. McQueen by arguing that the embryos should be treated as children and have their fate determined under the best interest standard usually applied in child custody disputes rather than viewing the embryos as marital property. A trial court ruled the embryos property and upheld the right of Mr. Gadberry to not be forced into procreation but the case is now pending before an appellate court. No matter how the case is decided, it is likely to elicit a strong response from both sides in this increasingly bitter debate over the status of embryos.
See Tamar Lewin, Anti-Abortion Groups Join Battles Over Frozen Embryos, The New York Times, January 19, 2016.
Special thanks to Jerry Borison for bringing this article to my attention.
