Widow appeals over husband's sperm

The original case to preserve the sperm was lost

A widow who wants to use her dead husband's sperm to have a baby has taken her legal battle to the Court of Appeal in London.

The 34-year-old woman - who cannot be named for legal reasons - lost a court plea in January to prevent a fertility clinic which holds a stock of her late husband's frozen sperm from destroying it.

In ruling against the woman, Dame Elizabeth Butler-Sloss said the evidence had been finely balanced.

She ruled the sperm should be kept on ice until the woman had a chance to appeal.

Consent dispute

The Bristol-based clinic claims the woman's husband had withdrawn his earlier consent for posthumous use of his sperm.

The woman says her 47-year-old husband, who died unexpectedly last year from asthma, withdrew his consent under duress from a member of the medical profession.

But, Butler-Sloss rejected this view, saying it was difficult to see how an able, educated man with a responsible job and in good health could have been forced to change his mind against his will.

The Court of Appeal is expected to hear the case over the next two days and will make a ruling in a few weeks' time.

In a similar case, Diane Blood gave birth to a baby boy three years ago from sperm taken from her dying husband.

She won a two-year battle in 1997 when an appeal court ruled that under European law she could take the sperm to Belgium for IVF treatment.

Ms Blood announced in February she was expecting a second child after repeating the operation.