23 Nov Family Court Judge rules Let ‘em Go

In the famed frozen embryo case, a California Judge has ruled that a contract controls. This ruling will result in the destruction of the frozen embryos that were created by the couple in an IVF procedure. The couple separated following the procedure and have been involved in an acrimonious divorce ever since.

Although the wife desired to keep the embryos, the Court rejected her claims to them. The family court judge found that a contract controlled the situation and, based on the terms of that contract, the embryos must be destroyed. The court rejected the claims of the wife, an anesthesiologist, that she did not understand the written contract. The Court did not rule on whether she had a constitutional right the to the embryos.

No Kentucky court has addressed this issue in any reported decision. However, this illustrates how technology creates new issues for family courts to tackle every year. LA Times Story here