Court Decision: Sperm is property and wife can be entitled to possession

ashvani_patil · 2021-04-26T12:28:49+00:00

Brief Outline

What right does a woman have to take sperm from the body of her deceased partner so that she may conceive a child?

Ms Jocelyn Edwards seeks a declaration that she, as the administrator of the estate of her late husband, Mr Mark Edwards, is entitled to possession of sperm that was extracted from his body shortly after his death. Although there is no direct evidence, the clear and only inference is that she desires to have a child with the aid of assisted reproductive treatment.

Legal Argument

Ms Edwards argued that, as the administrator of her late husband's estate in relation to the disposal of his body, she has a right to possession of any part thereof and no other party has a superior right.

The Attorney General however argued that there is a right of property, but the right of an executor or administrator to possession of the deceased's body is limited to fulfilling the duty to ensure prompt and decent burial or cremation.

Court Outcome

The Court made the order that Ms Jocelyn Edwards is entitled to possession of the sperm recovered from the body of her late husband, Mr Mark Edwards.

smittsmyth · 2021-04-26T16:08:06+00:00

He wanted her to have his baby and she agreed. The state was the asshole by trying to strip this couple of its right to have a child. Good ruling by the court

ashvani_patil · 2021-04-26T13:01:39+00:00

Just imagine the outrage if a Judge found that a women's eggs are her husband's property.

I know in this case the man died, but its one step closer to the position that women own their bodies but men don't.

Hybridpillows · 2021-04-26T12:31:39+00:00

What the actual modern fuck did I just read?

ApprehensiveMail8 · 2021-04-26T17:27:43+00:00

Husband: You can have my sperm over my dead body!

Wife: Deal

Past-Difficulty6785 · 2021-04-26T22:26:08+00:00

I'm okay with this but only in this specific situation. Whether it has to be on a case by case basis or whatever, just so long as it isn't written into law that a woman has rights to my spermy swimmers. She should never have that right for the exact same reason that women have been unable to shut up about abortion for the past 50 or so years.

mikesteane · 2021-04-26T23:56:05+00:00

So presumably, a woman can can be held responsible for child support resulting from the use of that sperm.

MydnightRose · 2021-04-27T03:00:04+00:00

Men stop donating immediately

DanteLivra · 2021-04-26T15:09:52+00:00

My body my choice ?

rabel111 · 2021-04-27T00:59:04+00:00

I have sympathy for the woman involved in the case, and her and her partners wish to have a child. But that's not the issue here.

The judge in theis case had to circumvent laws that stopped this woman using the sperm of her dead partner, and the only way around those laws, was to give her ownership of her partner's body. That is a dangerous precedent that is one step away from ownership of a person.

While the case shows a great deal of empathy for the woman, it does not consider the down-stream implications of this decision for men. Why wait til the man is dead to take ownership of his sperm?

UnconventionalXY · 2021-04-27T05:03:20+00:00

This is the reason we need clear and unambiguous bodily sovereignty rights (including tissues) that require notarised legal consent for variation.

If a couple agreed to something, then it should be auditable, else it didn't happen. As upsetting as that might be in this particular case, it would be more generally upsetting in society if we granted loopholes around rights to effectively nullify them and set a precedent.

There would be many women in a similar position where their male partner died before being able to create a baby: it's unfortunate, but not a reason to set a precedent to invalidate rights (noting of course that those rights of which I speak do not exist yet).

This should never become about property when it relates to human beings and their tissues.

Skinnyguy202 · 2021-04-26T12:47:05+00:00

No, absolutely not. This is just ridiculous 🤦‍♂️

wickedsmalls · 2021-04-26T19:57:24+00:00

Misleading title. Man and woman consented to having a baby and had plans for what happened if he died.

2021-04-27T22:47:47+00:00

Could any legal experts opine on this:
- Is the sperm a possession because it was extracted, and the husband desired that it be used for reproduction?

DevOwner · 2021-04-26T15:49:17+00:00

On appeal that should be considered desecration of a corpse.

michaelscott1776 · 2021-04-26T23:11:22+00:00

Reading this it sounds like this is what they both wanted. They wanted to have kids but due to his terminal illness and death they couldn't have a kid

Atilla942 · 2021-04-26T19:21:07+00:00

You could say that if the husband was okay with this then it should be legal although this does raise the question that did he get manipulated by his wife while he was on his death bed? It can't be proven since the guy is dead but it would be interesting to see what the reaction would have been by the woke leftists had the judged said wife's' eggs are husband's property.

Lice138 · 2021-04-26T19:10:52+00:00

Of course this is Australia. How did they get by for so long being branded as “tough guys” only to end up just giving their country over to feminist .

BritishCorner · 2021-04-26T20:33:49+00:00

God... men are losing their rights by the day

Errantrocket · 2021-04-26T16:38:03+00:00

And then he probably will have to pay child support

randomasshole137 · 2021-04-26T19:31:47+00:00

What happened to my body my choice???

Valuable_Salt_7493 · 2021-04-26T20:03:11+00:00

I’m sorry what????

wallerdog · 2021-04-27T00:28:24+00:00

This a simple non-controversial decision regarding property rights and decedents estates. The idea that sperm can be property is as old as the first paid sperm donor. You may safely unclutch your pearls.

wilhelmfink4 · 2021-04-26T15:24:55+00:00

It’s easy guys. Don’t be an idiot and get entangled with a crazy bitch. You stick your paw in a trap it’s your own goddamn fault

SiriusAlGhul · 2021-04-27T17:45:25+00:00

They wanted a baby, they had frozen sperm, he died, she had it.

He would have wanted it. It was his wish.

Title	Court Decision: Sperm is property and wife can be entitled to possession
Author	ashvani_patil
Upvotes	231
Comments	62
Date	April 26, 2021 12:27 PM UTC (5 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/MensRights
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/MensRights/comments/mywhyq/court_decision_sperm_is_property_and_wife_can_be/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/MensRights/court-decision-sperm-is-property-and-wife-can-be.829911 https://theredarchive.com/post/829911

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