I want to have a baby with my dead fiance’s sperm – I face £60k legal battle but it should be MINE
A WOMAN has launched a £60,000 legal battle to win the right to get pregnant using her dead fiance's sperm.
Ellie Home, from Milton Keynes, Bucks, was left devastated when her partner Myles died from pneumonia four months ago after a lengthy battle with leukaemia.
Though Myles had frozen some of his sperm, Ellie is now facing a legal battle to use it as he had not signed a consent form explicitly saying she could use it following his passing - though she argues it "should rightly be mine".
Before Myles' death in September, the couple - who had been together for three years - had already started having IVF treatment to try to have a baby.
Ellie, 22, now wants to continue that treatment so that she can have the child she and Myles had dreamed of.
Speaking at her home today, Ellie said: "Before Myles started his treatment, he was asked if we wanted some of his semen to be frozen and stored in case he ever wanted to start a family.
"He said yes, of course. Having children together was something we had always planned and dreamed of. So there are nine vials in storage with the NHS, waiting to be used.
"I had started the initial consultations with an IVF clinic and the plan was for me to get pregnant as soon as possible."
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Tragically, Myles' health declined rapidly last year after he suffered a series of infections.
His passing four months ago was still "sudden and unexpected" according to Ellie, who has taken his last name, despite the pandemic preventing their marriage.
Unfortunately, during the build-up to Myles' death, neither the doctors nor any hospital officials mentioned his frozen sperm.
"As the law stands, he needed to sign a consent form for me to use his sperm after he passed away," Ellie said.
"Nobody told us this. We had no idea. Had we known, he would most definitely have signed.
"We had talked so much about the baby we wanted to have. If it was a boy we planned to call him Mylo, after Myles. If it's a girl we wanted to call her Nora, after my nan.
"We talked about how the child would be into Star Wars and geeky things, just like their dad. Death was something that was never anticipated."
'LONG AND COSTLY CASE'
As Myles did not give explicit consent, Ellie has no legal right to use the frozen sperm for IVF treatment - meaning she will have to fight an uphill legal battle that will cost her up to £60,000.
Ellie has the support of Myles' family - but even so, lawyers have given Ellie only a 50/50 chance of winning her case and she has already spent all her funds in her fight.
She has now turned to the public and has set up a GoFundMe page in a bit to try and raise the funds for her court battle.
"I am now facing a very long and costly court case to win legality over Myles’ stored semen, something that should rightly be mine," Ellie added.
"Not only have I lost the love of my life; the man who I built a life with, planned to marry and carry his children but I am on the brink of losing the chance to ever even have our children.
"We all feel it would be a little bit of Myles that we still have. The child would be loved and cherished."
Ellie says she is "desperately in need" of funds now as she has already used cash she and Myles had set aside to "build their future with".
"Thank you to everyone who has been sharing and donating. You will never know how much it means to us," she said.
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"These past few days I have been completely and solely occupied with gathering up every single piece of evidence to show how much me and Myles wanted children, and how we were already involved in the early stages of IVF.
"To every person who knew us personally, you will know that this was our one wish."