Australian Case Defines Limits For Embryo ‘inheritance’

SYDNEY, May 29, 2003 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In an unusual inheritance squabble, the Supreme Court of New South Wales was asked to determine whether frozen embryos brought to term before or after a grandparent’s death should share the estate with their already-born siblings.  The grandmother in the case was told in 1991 that her son and daughter-in-law had undergone IVF treatment and were keeping a number frozen embryos. At the time she wrote her will, she had only one grandchild; a second was born before her death in 2000. Since then, two more embryos were successfully implanted and brought to term—for a total of four children and two frozen embryos. The will divided the grandmother’s estate, including $1 million in trust, equally to the child or children of her son and daughter “who shall survive me and attain the age of 25 years.”  But the court opted for the traditional definition of “survive”—that a grandchild would have to be alive (i.e. must have been born) at the time of the grandmother’s death. The ruling excludes the embryos brought to term after her demise—including two children already born.  “These IVF matters are going to happen more and more and you have to do the best you can to anticipate people’s wishes. It may be we have to look at the definition of what life is,” said Gordon Salier of the New South Wales Law Society.  For local coverage:  https://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/05/28/1053801446348.html