FYI.

This story is over 5 years old.

News

Widow Challenges French Law That Prohibits Using a Dead Man’s Sperm to Get Pregnant

A young Spanish woman whose husband passed away last year has asked France to hand over his frozen sperm so that she can have his child in Spain.
Photo of in vitro fertilization via Wikimedia Commons

A young Spanish woman whose husband passed away last year has asked France to hand over his frozen sperm so that she can have his child in Spain, where she currently resides. There's only one problem: Using a dead man's sperm for insemination is illegal in France.

Marina Gonzalez' husband, Nicola Turri, was diagnosed with cancer a few years ago. Concerned that his treatment might impact his fertility, Turri had his sperm frozen in 2013. The "straws" containing the sperm are currently held at a research center and sperm bank in Paris, where the couple was living at the time.

Advertisement

After initially going into remission, Turri was diagnosed with leukemia in 2015. That year, he scheduled an appointment with an attorney to officially give consent for his wife to undergo Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) treatment, using his frozen sperm. Gonzalez's attorney, David Simhon, told French news agency AFP that Turri died "one hour before he was due to meet" his attorney on July 9, 2015.

Gonzalez is now asking France's Council of State to hand over her late husband's frozen sperm so that she can be inseminated in Spain. In an interview with France 2 in April, the young woman said she wanted "to be the mother of my life partner's child," and that she hoped the court would allow her to carry out her late husband's wish.

The Council of State is Gonzalez's last hope of a legal resolution in France, after an administrative court denied her original request. On Friday, public rapporteur Aurélie Bretonneau said that she did not oppose the transfer of the sperm to Spain in light of the "exceptional" situation, AFP reported.

Related: Lawsuit Alleges Sperm Bank's Genius Donor Was Actually a Schizophrenic Ex-Con

Véronique Fournier, director of the Clinical Ethics Center (Centre d'Éthique Clinique), in Paris, told VICE News that she wasn't sure whether Bretonneau's statement implied a future change to the law, or whether it marked a desire "to respect [the wishes] of European nationals living in the country."

Advertisement

According to French daily Le Figaro, Simhon argued that the couple's decision to become parents had been "clearly defined" and was "already in process." Turri also left a will that authorized his wife to use his sperm even in the event of his death. During the hearing on Friday, the court was told that the couple already one failed insemination attempt prior to Turri's death.

A provision of France's Public Health Code, which was introduced in 1994 and revised in 2004, says individuals wishing to undergo ART procedures "must be living, old enough to procreate, and have previously consented to transferring embryos for insemination." According to the code, "the death of one of the individuals in the couple" constitutes "an obstacle" to insemination.

In a report published in 2009, the Council of State ruled to ban the postmortem transfer of embryos, arguing that children born from such a procedure "might be exposed to factors, which could contribute to imbalance or psychological hardship associated with the position of a child born out of grief." The council also said there was "broad consensus" for the ban.

But in 2011, France's National Consultative Ethics Committee (CCNE) said the majority of its members believed the procedure "should be authorized" under certain circumstances, including a minimum period of reflection for the man prior to his death.

The council, however, said it would be unwise to undo the ban on postmortem insemination, saying that, for the child, "the symbolic burden of having been conceived with sperm from a man that was already deceased could compound the difficulties he/she will experience from being born without a father." The council also said that it is hard to verify whether or not the father had indeed agreed to the procedure.

Advertisement

Related: Paris Will Start Swabbing High Schoolers to See If They're Smoking Pot

Fournier doesn't think the law will change anytime soon. She said that while France enforces strict biothethical guidelines within its borders, it remains flexible when it comes to "reproductive tourism."

"The state wants such and such law to be in place in the territory but does not forbid nationals to do whatever they want abroad," she said.

"The newborn will have no links to France," Simhon told Le Figaro. "We are not asking for a reform of the French law. In light of that, how can they oppose a transfer?"

The vocal support of the rapporteur is an important first step for Gonzalez. The Council of State's decision will be announced in the coming days. If her request is denied, Gonzalez has planned to appeal the decision with the European Court of Human Rights.

But time is running out for Gonzalez. According to Spanish law, postmortem insemination is only legal if it takes place within the year following the death of the father, giving Gonzalez until July 10 to attempt the procedure.

Follow Solenn on Twitter: @SolennSugier

Follow VICE News France on Twitter: @vicenewsFR

This article originally appeared in VICE News' French edition.

Photo via Wikimedia Commons.