Mother's legal fight to have a child by her dead husband

A widow is fighting for the right to have a child using sperm taken from her husband after he died suddenly last year.

The baby would be a longed-for brother or sister for the couple's first child, a girl.

A judge allowed sperm to be extracted when he heard that the couple had sought advice about fertility treatment a week before the 30-year-old man's death.

However, the move is being questioned by the Human Fertility and Embryology Authority and his 42-year- old widow faces a legal battle to be allowed to use it.

The husband is said to have had a long-standing medical condition, although it is understood there is also a inquiry going on into the circumstances of his death.

The case reopens the fertility debate surrounding Diane Blood, who had two children from sperm extracted from her husband Stephen while he was in a coma.

Following a long legal battle she won the right to have it taken abroad so she could have treatment in a Brussels clinic.

In the latest case, a gynaecologist confirmed that the couple, from Twickenham, South-West London, had consulted him for fertility advice a week before the husband's death. On this basis, a judge allowed sperm to be taken.

Diane Blood with her two children, who she had from sperm extracted from her husband while he was in a coma

However, the Diane Blood case, while not setting a precedent, made it clear that this should not be done without written consent from the husband.

The new case has led the widow's MP, Liberal Democrat Vince Cable, to demand a change in the law. In an amendment to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill tabled last week, he proposed that a consultant's confirmation of a couple's intention to have children together should be given the same status as written consent from the husband.

He is also asking that High Court judges be given the power to permit the use of the sperm in the UK.

'Mrs Blood's case doesn't serve as a precedent,' said Dr Cable. 'This amendment would deal with a small number of specific cases where it is a woman's right to have a child by her partner.

'In this case the couple were already embarking on fertility treatment and it was clear her husband-had it in mind to support her having a child in this way  -  so she could have a stronger case than Mrs Blood.

'However, at the moment they won't release it so she can't even go abroad.'

Mrs Blood, 42, who has two sons, Liam, nine, and Joel, five, said she backed the case of the widow, who does not wish to be named.

'It is very important following the death of a partner that the widow does not lose the ability to continue with her own life,' she said.

She pointed out that because there was evidence of the couple's ambition have children from a conversation-there was no reason for the widow not to continue with that ambition.

Mrs Blood added: 'I cannot imagine life without my children. They bring joy to a great many people, including my late husband's family.'

The woman in the latest case is said to be 'very churned up' about her husband's death.

David Josiah-Lake, the solicitor representing her, said: 'Had the husband had the opportunity to give consent in writing, it is clear from the overwhelming evidence he would have done so.'

A spokesman for the Human Fertility and Embryology Authority said: 'It would be inappropriate for us to comment on a case currently before the court.'