Virginia judge to decide whether state law considers embryos as property [View all]
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Local Judge to Decide If Embryos Can Be Property A trial is underway in Virginia that will determine whether state law allows frozen embryos to be considered property that can be divided up and assigned a monetary value. Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge Dontae Bugg heard arguments Thursday from a divorced couple who disagree over the ex-wifes desire to use two embryos that they created when they were married. [
NBC4]
FAIRFAX COUNTY
Virginia judge to decide whether state law considers embryos as property
By Matthew Barakat Published May 9, 2024 Updated on May 9, 2024 at 10:51 pm
A trial is underway in Virginia that will determine whether state law allows frozen embryos to be considered property that can be divided up and assigned a monetary value. ... Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge Dontae Bugg heard arguments Thursday from a divorced couple who disagree over the ex-wife's desire to use two embryos that they created when they were married.
Honeyhline Heidemann says the embryos are her last chance to conceive a biological child after a cancer treatment left her infertile. Jason Heidemann, says he does not want to be forced to become a biological father to another child.
The case attracted national attention last year when a different judge, Richard Gardiner, ruled that embryos could be considered goods or chattel that could be divided under state law, and his analysis relied in part on a 19th-century law governing the treatment of slaves.
Gardiner is no longer assigned to the case, for reasons unrelated to his citation of slavery as a precedent.
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