A divorced couple in Maryland is fighting in court over their frozen embryos.
“A year after we got married, and we’re trying to conceive, and unfortunately it didn’t happen the natural way,” Honorine Anong said.
Due to an ovarian cyst, she opted for in vitro fertilization, an option unavailable in her native Cameroon, Africa.
Using two of their 11 frozen embryos, the couple conceived a girl, who is now 3.
When they divorced, a judge granted Anong’s husband custody of their daughter but gave custody of the frozen embryos to Anong, who intends to use them.
“I just can’t get pregnant any other way,” she said.
But Circuit Court issued a stay until Feb. 9, giving Anong’s ex-husband time to file an appeal, which he is expected to do.
“How do you deal with such an intricate issue, and not just from a legal perspective but also looking at it from a moral perspective?” attorney Johnine Clark said.
An attorney for Anong’s ex-husband told Greenbelt Patch that allowing Anong to use the embryos obligates him to be a parent against his will.
The case could go all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
