Woman Who Gave Birth To Late Husband's Baby Two Years After His Death Could Face Criminal Charges
Bevin must decide now if she wants to use the remaining fertilised embryos in case the law becomes more restrictive.
A woman who decided to have a baby using her late husband's sperm two years after his death could face criminal charges.
Bevin Farrand, 42, from Ohio, had two children with her husband Mark through in vitro fertilisation (IVF).
The pair opted to conceive in this way after discovering Mark's fertility issues, which were the result of chemotherapy treatment for lupus.
As reported by the Daily Mail, after Mark passed away, Bevin decided to use one of the remaining embryos to have a third child, and welcomed a baby girl last July.
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But following the overturning of Roe v Wade, Bevin has to decide what she wants to do with the remaining embryos sooner rather than later.
While she may want more children with her late husband down the line, this is a decision she is being forced to make now.
If she chooses not to terminate the embryos, she could face criminal charges if she does not use them.
She wrote in an Insider essay: "I am not emotionally prepared to make [the decision] yet.
"But if I don't make it soon I could face criminal charges as abortion laws continue to change in my state and across the country.
"Without IVF, I would not have my children, and I definitely would not have been able to carry out the dream that Mark and I shared of bringing our second daughter into the world."
Health.com reports that the law could change to affect fertilised IVF embryos, although this is not currently the case.
According to the news outlet, some states could impose laws that require all fertilised embryos to be implanted and produced.
Dr Shefali Mavani Shastri, a clinical director and physician partner at the fertility clinic RMA New Jersey, said: "There's a risk that people will have to use all of the embryos that are developed [through IVF], forcing an individual or a couple to expand their family whether they have the means or the desire to do so - or not."
Bevin's home state of Ohio has already come under fire for its current abortion laws, which prevent terminations after six weeks, when a heartbeat can be detected.
This meant that a 10-year-old girl was recently forced to travel out of state for the procedure after she was raped by an older man, but the pregnancy was not discovered until she was six weeks and three days pregnant.
As reported by the BBC, President Biden condemned the Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v Wade, citing the case and saying: "Imagine being that little girl!"
Topics: News
Emma Guinness