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STRASBOURG, France, Mar 7, 2006 (UPI via COMTEX) -- The European Court of Human Rights has ruled a British woman cannot use her frozen embryos because her former boyfriend has withdrawn his consent.
Natallie Evans, who was left infertile after ovarian cancer treatment, lost her bid to use the embryos in British courts, and then appealed to the 7-judge European body in Strasbourg, France.
They ruled that the right to a family life could not override Howard Johnston's withdrawal of consent, the BBC said.
It also ruled unanimously that the embryos did not have an independent right to life.
Evans and Johnston started in-vitro fertilization when they were engaged and the embryos were harvested in 2001, but the couple later broke up.
Under British law, her six stored embryos will be destroyed in October.
URL: www.upi.com Copyright 2006 by United Press International
