Jenni Richards KC
Year of call: 1991
Silk: 2011
News
Jenni Richards QC and Rose Grogan successful in Court of Appeal as woman wins bid to use deceased daughter's eggs
Jenni Richards QC and Rose Grogan have succeeded in the Court of Appeal in their legal challenge to overturn a High Court ruling against their clients Mr & Mrs M. The High Court held that the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) had acted lawfully in effectively preventing Mrs M from using her late daughter's frozen eggs so that she could become pregnant with her own grandchild – something Mr Mrs M say was their daughter's dying wish. Their daughter, referred to as 'A' in the proceedings, died after a long battle with cancer aged 26.
The appeal had been opposed by the HFEA who have to-date refused to allow the woman and her husband to take their daughter's eggs to a US fertility clinic to be used with donor sperm. The Court of Appeal found that the HFEA acted irrationally in its evaluation of the evidence that A consented to her mother using her eggs after her death. In light of today's ruling, the HFEA has said that it will re-consider the case as soon as possible.
Jenni Richards QC said that if the judges did not overturn the High Court's ruling, the "inevitable" consequence would be that the eggs "will simply be allowed to perish", which was the exact opposite of what A wanted. Ms Richards argued that there was "clear evidence" of what the daughter wanted to happen to her eggs after she died, and that "all available evidence" showed she wanted her mother "to have her child after death".
To read the full judgment, please click here.
For press coverage, please see below:
