The court has ruled!, Wife's request for the hospital to continue transferring frozen embryos was rejected, and husband passed away
According to the Liuzhou Evening News on September 13th, the People's Court of Liubei District, Liuzhou City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, recently concluded a case of a husband's death after embryo freezing, and his wife's request for the hospital to continue the surgery was refused. The court also ruled in accordance with the law that the hospital should continue to fulfill the contract for human assisted reproductive technology medical services.
Unfortunately, her husband passed away due to illness during assisted reproduction
The above report stated that previously, Wang and her husband went to a hospital in Liuzhou City for human assisted reproductive therapy. Between December 2021 and February 2022, both parties signed medical service contracts such as the "Informed Consent Form for Husband Sperm Cryopreservation" and the "Commitment Letter for Voluntary Acceptance of Assisted Reproductive Technology". They voluntarily requested to receive treatment with assisted reproductive technology at the Reproductive Health and Pregnancy Assistance Center of a hospital in Liuzhou City.
In view of this, the hospital successfully froze 12 blastocysts for the couple. Unfortunately, Wang's husband passed away shortly after due to illness. Wang requested the hospital to continue with embryo transfer surgery, but was refused by the hospital. So Wang sued the hospital to the People's Court of Liubei District.
Wang believes that her husband clearly expressed his desire to have children during his lifetime and underwent relevant surgery in the hospital to freeze the embryos. They have formed a medical service contract relationship with the hospital, and the performance of this contract should not be affected by the husband's death.
The hospital believes that each stage of the surgery requires personal signature of relevant documents. Currently, Wang's husband has passed away and subsequent documents cannot be signed. The hospital cannot clarify whether Wang's husband's intention to perform embryo transfer is true and does not comply with necessary procedures. The hospital also explicitly refuses the surgery in accordance with the relevant regulations of "not allowing single women to undergo human assisted reproductive technology".
The court ruled that even if the husband passes away, it does not affect the subsequent performance of the contract
The court held that this case is essentially a medical service contract case, and to resolve the conflicts and disputes between the two parties, the court must clarify whether Wang's request to continue embryo transfer surgery after her husband's death complies with the contract and legal provisions, as well as whether the relevant medical service contract between the doctor and the patient should continue to be fulfilled.
Wang and his wife are legal spouses and have not given birth to or adopted children. Wang and his wife's desire to have children does not violate national population and family planning laws and regulations. Wang's husband passed away due to illness during the process of undergoing artificial assisted reproductive technology in the hospital. Wang is a widowed wife and does not belong to the single woman referred to in relevant regulations. Therefore, it is not valid for the hospital to refuse to perform embryo transfer surgery on Wang on the grounds that the relevant regulations and documents prohibit the implementation of human assisted reproductive technology for single women.
The ultimate goal of Wang and her husband signing a human assisted reproductive technology medical service contract with the hospital is to have children. The hospital requires Mr. and Mrs. Wang to jointly sign and agree before each step of treatment activities, but this signing behavior does not affect the overall integrity of the medical service contract.
Although Wang's husband has passed away, based on the entire performance process of the medical service contract, Wang's husband signed in every stage of the medical service process before his death. Wang requested the hospital to continue to fulfill the medical service contract and perform embryo transfer surgery for her, which is not only a reflection of the true intention of Wang and his wife, but also has fulfilling content.
According to Article 465 of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China: Contracts established in accordance with the law are protected by law, and Article 509: The parties shall fully fulfill their obligations as agreed. The court ruled in accordance with the law that a certain hospital in Liuzhou City will continue to fulfill the human assisted reproductive technology medical service contract with Wang and carry out embryo transfer surgery for Wang.
Judges involved: Protecting the reproductive rights of widowed wives in accordance with the law
Judge Wu Niyun from the Family and Juvenile Trial Division of Liubei District People's Court in Liuzhou City introduced that after experiencing the pain of her husband's death, Wang continued to be willing to undergo embryo transfer surgery and give birth to their children after careful consideration. This behavior not only conforms to the traditional concepts and human nature widely recognized by the public, but also does not violate the socialist core values advocated by the law and the provisions of current laws. Wang's demands should be respected and protected. Everyone knows that "law is nothing more than human emotions", but in fact, this sentence refers to the fact that the formulation and implementation of laws cannot be separated from the common moral emotions of humanity. If law enforcement officers only mechanically apply the provisions of the law in the process of enforcing it, but fail to respect and care for people's common moral emotions, it goes against the spirit of legislation and the fundamental purpose of justice for the people. "As a people's judge, in handling this case, I legally protected the right of widowed wives to have children."
