Widow's Rights To a Family

When she and her husband Stephen got married, they chose a traditional 1622 wedding service in a church, which places more importance on family values and procreation than modern ceremonies. They hoped for a long and happy marriage together. Sadly, Stephen contracted bacterial meningitis before lapsing into a coma and dying at just 30 years old. Prior to his death, he had expressed a wish for his wife to use his sperm if anything should happen to him, so she persuaded doctors to take a sperm sample from him and freeze it. Unfortunately Stephen had not given written consent, only verbal consent, which meant that legally, IVF could not be performed on her.

She embarked on a lengthy legal battle for the right to use her deceased husband's sperm. After years of wrangling she was allowed to export his sperm to Belgium in order to undergo IVF.

5lbs, 13oz Liam was born in December 1998, a month premature, at the Jessop Hospital for Women in Sheffield, UK, followed by his brother Joel in July 2002.

Diane said she would wait until they were both older before she told them about how they were conceived.

However, that wasn't the end of her battle, because according to UK law, a deceased person could not be considered someone's father and so could not be named as the father on the birth certificate. After another fight, the law was amended with the Deceased Father's Act 2003.

Now, another woman, aged 42, is fighting for the right to have children by her dead husband. The couple had been having IVF treatment before the husband died. Now his widow wants to continue with the treatment they would have had if he had still been alive, but the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority are blocking this move, questioning the legality of her using his sperm. Like Stephen Blood, he had not given written consent.

Both the fertility specialist and the attorney for the case have confirmed that the man was undergoing fertility treatment and there is no doubt he wanted his sperm to be used.

'Had the husband had the opportunity to give consent in writing, it is clear from the overwhelming evidence that he would have done so', said the attorney representing the woman.

Diane Blood supported the latest applicant, saying that her two boys had given everyone in their lives great joy, including her late husband's parents. Now, Liberal Democrat MP Vincent Cable is submitting an amendment to the current law and hopes that the government will consider allowing the routine use of sperm from deceased father's in cases where the widow still wishes to have children.

The widow in this case wished to have another baby so that her daughter would not be an only child.

Baby Joy

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