Two British women lost their High Court battle today to save their frozen embryos from destruction and use them to have children without the consent of their former partners.
A judge in London rejected a challenge by Ms Natallie Evans and Ms Lorraine Hadley to a law which states that embryos must be destroyed unless both parties consent to storage and use.
Ms Evans (31) from Trowbridge, Wiltshire, and Mrs Hadley (38) from Sandwell, West Midlands, both underwent IVF treatment with their respective partners and have a number of embryos in storage.
The couples have now separated and the partners have withdrawn consent for the use of the embryos.
The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act says that, unless both parties consent to storage and use, the embryos must be destroyed.
The judge in the case, Mr Justice Wall, heard in June and July that it was Ms Evans's last chance to have natural children of her own because her ovaries were removed after they were found to contain pre-cancerous cells.
She met her former partner, Mr Howard Johnston, in 1999 and they lived together until last year when he ended the relationship.
Ms Evans claims that Mr Johnston led her to believe that he would never stop her using the embryos as he knew how important having a child was to her. Mrs Hadley was married to husband Wayne until he left her for another woman in 2000.
When they separated, Mr Hadley agreed the embryos should remain in storage but later changed his mind.
Mr Justice Wall expressed his "considerable sympathy for all four of the adults in the dilemma which they faced in these two cases".
He said it would be easy to criticise Mr Johnston and Mr Hadley. "But such criticisms would, in my judgment, be unfair."
PA