FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) — A judge in northern Virginia has ruled that embryos cannot be treated as property to be divided, overturning a previous court opinion that suggested fertilized eggs could be considered divisible assets under 19th-century slave law. Nearly 10 months after closing arguments, Fairfax Circuit Court Judge Dontaè L. Bugg issued an opinion earlier this month dismissing a cancer survivor’s lawsuit against her ex-husband over access to two embryos they had frozen during in vitro fertilization. The couple had agreed to leave the embryos in storage during their divorce. The former wife, Honeyhline Heidemann, argued in court that the embryos represented her last chance to have a biological child after cancer treatment. On the other hand, Jason Heidemann’s attorney contended that he did not wish to be forced into becoming a biological father against his will.
The legal dispute garnered national attention in 2023 when Judge Richard E. Gardiner, who is no longer handling the case, referred to old slavery-era law to justify his ruling against Jason Heidemann’s argument that the embryos were not covered by the state’s partition statute. Judge Bugg disagreed with Gardiner’s reliance on outdated laws predating the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery. Bugg stated that Virginia lawmakers had removed references to slavery from the legal code since 1865, indicating that human beings, and by extension embryos, should not be subject to division as a matter of legislative policy.
Bugg’s decision comes at a time when there is a nationwide debate on the status of embryos and fetuses. Several states have defined embryos, fertilized eggs, or fetuses as “persons” in their laws, while the Alabama Supreme Court ruled in 2024 that frozen embryos are to be considered people. In addition, U.S. Senate Republicans blocked legislation in the same year that would have guaranteed women across the country the right to access in vitro fertilization and other fertility treatments.
Prior to this case, there was limited legal precedent in Virginia regarding the treatment of embryos. Both parties involved in the lawsuit expressed their viewpoints in court, with Honeyhline Heidemann hoping to obtain both embryos and Jason Heidemann’s attorney, Carrie Patterson, arguing against their sale or division. Patterson pointed out that the American Society for Reproductive Medicine deems the sale of embryos unethical. Bugg concluded that there was no legal basis for valuing or selling embryos, and he lacked evidence to support such actions.
“Given the nature of embryos, carrying out such a process is evident. The author pointed out that these two human embryos, if implanted and brought to term, would not develop into identical individuals. He highlighted that the embryos are just as distinct as any two individuals picked from the population, even siblings with the same biological parents.” – Olivia Diaz, a corps member with The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative.
