Egg harvest

mackg · 09-08-2011 2:23pm #1

THE FAMILY OF an Israeli teenager who was left brain dead following a car accident have been granted permission to extract her eggs and freeze them after donating her organs for transplant.
The 17-year-old died last Wednesday after being hit by a car almost 10 days ago.
The court allowed the family of Chen Aida Ayash to remove the woman’s eggs and the family agreed to donate her organs. Ha’aretz reports that the family also petitioned for the eggs to be fertilised with sperm before being frozen, which gives them a better chance of surviving the proceedure, however the judge declined.
The family will have to prove that Chen wished to have children before they will be allowed to fertilise the eggs.
A spokesperson for the Meir medical centre told The Guardian: “This is a unique case, since this is the first time an Israeli court has approved the extraction and freezing of ovarian eggs from a dead woman… We don’t know the reason why Ayash’s parents wanted it done. We just received the court order and did the procedure.”
The ruling carries many legal and ethical implications, as it could pave the way for a mother giving birth after death for the first time in the state. However, according to some reports, the family may have had a change of heart over the issue.
There have already been cases of sperm being extracted from deceased men, with dozens occurring in the United States, but only if it can be proved that the man had wanted to have children, reports the Telegraph.