Appeals court to decide frozen embryo dispute

ST. LOUIS (AP) — The Missouri Court of Appeals is being asked to decide whether a divorced St. Louis County couple’s two frozen embryos are property or human beings with constitutional rights.

Jalesia McQueen, 44, is suing to be able to use the embryos, which have been stored for six years, to have more children. Ex-husband, Justin Gadberry, 34, doesn’t want to have more children with McQueen and doesn’t believe he should be required to reproduce.

The two signed an agreement in 2010 that would give McQueen the embryos if they divorced, but Gadberry sought to prevent that from happening when the pair did split.

St. Louis County Family Court Commissioner Victoria McKee ruled that the embryos were “marital property” and gave joint custody to the estranged couple, which required McQueen and Gadberry to agree on the embryos’ future use.

Attorneys argued the case recently before the Missouri Court of Appeals.

McQueen’s appeal argues that Missouri law defines embryos as humans created at conception, giving her embryos a right to life. She also claims the lower court’s decision improperly invalidated her right to them under the pre-divorce agreement.

Gadberry’s lawyer, Tim Schlesinger, says giving the embryos to McQueen would violate his client’s right not to reproduce.

McQueen and Gadberry have 8-year-old twins from in vitro fertilization, and she has a 2-year-old son with another man.