Tag Archives: break-ups

Damn, he dumped her and left her with the embryos. Woman Battles Ex In Court For Right To Embryos Fighting over test-tube babies…really? According to Mail Online A doctor who froze embryos with her boyfriend after she was diagnosed with cancer is now battling him in court after he broke up with her and said he no longer wants children. Karla Dunston, 42, maintains that she has the right to have her biological children and should control the future of the embryos, while her ex-boyfriend Jacob Szafranski, 32, argues that he never agreed to give up his say in the matter. The Illinois Supreme Court is expected to reach a decision on whether it will hear Szafranski v. Dunston this month – a decision which will no doubt affect thousands of future would-be parents. Dunston has since gone on to carry and give birth to a son – using a donor egg and donor sperm, Szafranski’s attorney confirmed. But he added that this does not affect the outcome of the case as the court distinguishes between a child that is biological and ‘essentially adopted’. The couple, who met through their work in a Chicago hospital, had been dating for just five months when Dunston was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma in March 2010. This is an interesting case. Knowing that the chemotherapy could leave her infertile, she asked Szafranski if he would provide his sperm so that she could freeze embryos for potential future use. He agreed and one week later, he provided a sample at Northwestern Hospital’s fertility clinic, the Chicago Tribune reported. ‘It was a very emotional time and I was just trying to support Karla the best way I could,’ the firefighter and former nurse told the newspaper. Dunston, in a court deposition, added: ‘I thought about my different options, of using a sperm donor or someone that I knew for many years and that was a wonderful person. ‘So I decided to go with someone that I thought was a wonderful person and I trusted.’ At the time, the couple also signed a document that stated ‘no use can be made of these embryos without the consent of both partners’. They met up with an attorney and a second agreement that gave Dunston sole control of the fertilized eggs was drawn up – but the couple never signed it. Two months after the hospital visit, Szafranski broke up with Dunston via text message. He said he had initially been honored to help out his girlfriend, but later had reservations. ‘I have the right not to be a father,’ he said. ‘It’s something I take very seriously and feel very strongly about.’ Should the embryos be declared her property to do whatever she wants with them or should he have a say on whether he wants to be a father? Facebook Continue reading →