{"id":3032,"date":"2020-08-19T03:00:33","date_gmt":"2020-08-19T10:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.arwanilawfirm.com\/?p=3032"},"modified":"2020-08-18T10:41:39","modified_gmt":"2020-08-18T17:41:39","slug":"if-my-spouse-and-i-froze-our-embryos-but-are-now-getting-divorced-what-happens-to-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.arwanilawfirm.com\/if-my-spouse-and-i-froze-our-embryos-but-are-now-getting-divorced-what-happens-to-them\/","title":{"rendered":"If My Spouse and I Froze Our Embryos, But Are Now Getting Divorced, What Happens to Them?"},"content":{"rendered":"

According to the US Society of Assisted Reproductive Technology, between 1987 and 2015, there were approximately one million babies born via assisted reproductive technology, including IVF. Embryo disputes are becoming more and more common in family law, whereby, instead of fighting over child custody, a couple might fight over what happens to and\/or who gets their frozen embryos upon divorce or separation, and whether these embryos are considered to be marital property; in part due to couples wanting to wait longer to have children and start a family.<\/p>\n

And yet, advances in technology also sometimes bring complications to the field of law, as legislatures and courts cannot always keep up with technological innovations, as has been the case for cryopreservation.\u00a0 While Florida, for example, already has a law in place that attempts to prevent frozen embryo disputes by requiring doctors and couples to enter into written agreements regarding the disposition of eggs, pre-embryos, and sperm before they start the process, at the same time, statutes like these aren\u2019t necessarily helpful in resolving disputes, as, in the absence of a written agreement, decision-making authority regarding the disposition of these embryos regards jointly with the couples, which can then lead to litigation when there is disagreement. or the courts sometimes cannot agree on an interpretation of a couple\u2019s existing contract. In addition, some legislatures in states such as Arizona have even taken it upon themselves to override some of these written agreements and direct judges to grant any viable embryos to the \u201cspouse\u201d who will use them to create life, regardless of what the contract dictates.<\/u><\/p>\n

Look to The Clinic\u2019s Contract & Work with an Attorney Early, If Still Possible<\/strong><\/p>\n

While, in Florida, the most straightforward way to resolve these disputes is to take a close look at any contract signed by the contract and the fertility clinic, still, these forms can be very confusing. Let\u2019s take a look at one Florida fertility clinic\u2019s consent form regarding the disposition of these embryos as an example: \u00a0The form provides clients with the choice of either continuing to store the cryopreserved embryos, or:<\/p>\n