Embryos aren’t property, judge says, dismissing woman’s case against ex
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2025/03/15/frozen-embryo-fairfax-heidemann-lawsuit/
A judge in northern Virginia has dismissed the long-running case of a cancer survivor who sued her ex-husband for access to two frozen embryos created during their marriage, saying that human embryos are not divisible property.
Honeyhline Heidemann was diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer in 2017, two years after she and her then-husband, Jason, froze the embryos created during a cycle of IVF. When the Heidemanns divorced in 2018, their settlement listed the embryos as property — and would be kept in storage until either the couple or a court reached a decision on what would happen to them, The Washington Post previously reported.
In 2019, Honeyhline Heidemann requested permission to use the two frozen embryos to have more children, something Jason Heidemann refused, saying it would violate his privacy and personal liberty, the judge wrote. Honeyhline Heidemann later sued her former husband for access to the embryos, saying she would prefer to be awarded both, but would also accept the court dividing the embryos “in kind” so that each ex-spouse received one.
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We went through IVF early on, some clinics will require you to document what happens in the event of a divorce. Some states also require it, but most don't. Either way, I'm surprised it wasn't determined at the time of the divorce, it's similar to saying "we have two bars of gold but we'll determine later how they are used or split up".
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One needs the wisdom of Solomon....
