Legal Issues - Designer Babies Part 7

Hello peoples! Today we'll be talking about all of the legal issues surrounding IVF. Let's get started!

The main legal issue is ownership and custody.

What if a couple started on the process of IVF, but before the embryo was placed back inside the woman, the couple divorces, and they have to decide what to do with the baby. It is possible that both of them still want the baby, and they will have shared custody, but what if the father does not want the baby? The mother can still have the baby, but what if the father refuses to pay child support, and the mother can not afford to provide for the baby? There is no "right" way to resolve this issue, since the mother wants to provide for the baby, but is not able to. The father should also be able to not have the baby, since they divorced before it was even in the womb. This is a very difficult topic but it does occur sometimes in IVF.

What if a couple uses IVF, but uses a donor egg? Whose baby is it now? Is it the father and his wife, or is it the woman who donated her egg? Technically, the egg donor can fight for legal ownership of the baby, but it would be a very long and messy process. If the woman who donated her egg does not win, but still wants to be active with her baby, then she could be forced to pay child support.

What if the wrong embryo was placed in the woman? For example, if two women were going to the clinic to have the embryos placed back inside of them, what happens if the wrong embryo is placed in the women? For an example of this happening in real life click here. Also, just November of 2015, a woman was implanted with the wrong embryos, and instead of the doctor telling her that they made a mistake, the aborted the babies without her knowledge. For the full article please click here.

Just for the record, I did not come up with these articles by myself. I give all credit for the links to my best friend Sophia, or All Schafsnitz, who has a blog over here. Go check her out! Sophia rocks!

Hope it helped and again thank you Sophia for letting me use your articles,

Lydia