I thought I'd add my two pennorth to the debate about Natalie Evans and the horrible, mean selfish ex-fiance Howard Johnston. You may have guessed the side I am on. It seems to me that Ms Evans has come up against a bad law and I am sure that at some point this will be a test casse that allows for a much needed change - probably to late for Ms. Evans however.
Howard gave his consent to create the embryos which is, quite frankly, where it should have ended. He has no more ownership of those potential lives than any man who ever had sex, rolled over and fell into a carefree sleep. When Howard came into his pot, that should have been that.
Madeline Bunting in the Guardian today, argued that the law was evident in the fine print when the embryos were made and stored, and that Evans and Johnston were negligent in not considering the consequences of their actions. I would imagine that if Natalie Evans was being treated for cancer her own survival was paramount at the time - egg, sperm and embryos are more or less routinely stored I think these days when cancer has to be treated by radiotherapy or chemotherapy, and that effects your fertility. Its not that you are planning to get pregnant as soon as the cancer cells are vanquished, just that you are making a provision for a future that you hope you will see. A future that may be normal enough to give you the chance to have children.
Howard gave his sperm ( and a big up to him for being so selfless to give up a teaspoon of ejaculate to his cancer ridden fiance), gave his nominal consent to be a genetic father and presumably thought no more of it until he was asked to give his consent for the embryos to be used. Then he seized an opportunity to be jolly mean - his given reasons for this being transparently false - not ready to be a father? What? Nobody is asking him to dandle his baby on his knee or stump up child benefit, all he is being asked for is to not stand in the way of Natalie Evans trying (against very long odds) to become a parent herself.
I assume he has some unresolved issues that he needs to get out of his system. Mr. johnston, getting pissed and writing a miserable e-mail is usually enough for other hard done by ex- fiances. Get a grip and give your consent.
There are other big issues involved in the medical intervention of human fertility - do women have a right to babies against the odds, should the NHS give free IVF treatment to all comers, should 60 year olds have babies, should embryos be stored beyond 5 years? And I am sure there are hundreds of others. I don't think that this case is really about the big ethical issues. I think it is about a mean spirited, hateful man being horrible to someone he once loved because a bad law gave him the opportunity to do so.