The April 30 issue of People magazine features stories of two women who have lost legal battles against estranged partners to keep the embryos they created together via in vitro fertilization.

In the case of formerly engaged UK couple Natallie Evans and Howard Johnston, the court ruled their embryos must be destroyed by May 8. In 2001, about to lose her ovaries after the discovery of precancerous cells, Evans underwent hormone therapy to mature several eggs and had them fertilized by Johnston's sperm, with his permission. After they broke up, Johnston changed his mind and has been waging a legal battle for five years to destroy their preborn children.

Augusta and Randy Roman divorced a few months after they had three embryos created by IVF in 2002. Augusta, now 45 and with a biological clock ticking louder by the day, has been fighting Randy's wish to keep the embryos indefinitely frozen in storage. She says she didn't realize one of the papers she signed at the time of the fertilization stated the embryos would be destroyed in the event of a split. This case is now before the Texas Supreme Court.

So many moral dilemmas. To name a few...

(Continue reading at www.jillstanek.com.)

[Photo of Evans and Johnston in happier times courtesy of BBC News]

• So, you want to dabble in future parenthood via IVF? - Jun 25, 2007
• World's youngest surviving baby born in Miami - Feb 20, 2007
• Should pro-lifers encourage embryo adoption? - Feb 10, 2006
• Sex selection in the U.S. of A. - Oct 27, 2005
• In Vitro Fertilization's Monstrous Secret - Oct 08, 2005