she gives birth to a baby thanks to the frozen sperm of her deceased husband

In the United States, a young woman gave birth to a baby girl through an IVF procedure. Rather extraordinary fact: it was performed when her husband, the donor of the sperm, died.

She thought she was heartbroken her whole life. Julie Wilson, 36, from Cleveland, Ohio, was devastated by the unexpected and brutal death of her husband, Travis. In 2016, the couple discovered with horror that the latter was terminally ill with brain cancer and that a huge tumor had lodged there. The news is terrible, especially since Julie and Travis, together since 2007 and married in 2012, have been desperately trying to have a child for years, without success.

Read also: I can not get pregnant: the most common causes and possible solutions

Julie confided in the Daily Mail: “We knew from the start that he probably wouldn't be there for all the things we planned to do. Receiving Travis' diagnosis was overwhelming. We had planned our whole lives together and in an instant I was told that my husband would not be there and that I would be widowed by the age of 35. " To make matters worse, Julie is facing serious infertility issues and after finally getting pregnant, she miscarries after 12 weeks. Shortly after the news of Travis's diagnosis, the couple decide to begin a ART journey to try to have a baby before he dies.

Become a mom at all costs

The couple prayed that the cancer would not kill them, to no avail. In February 2019, Travis died of the illness, leaving Julie in the most total sadness. Before he began treatment for cancer, the man had stored his sperm to prevent it from being affected by the drugs. Five embryos were thus able to emerge, which was equivalent to five chances for Julie to get pregnant. "I had shown him pictures of our embryos before he died and he joked that they looked like him, continues the young woman to the Daily Mail. He also chose first names, but assured me that I could change them if they didn't suit the baby when I met him. "

Read also: Testimonial: "6 inseminations, 4 IVF, I went all the way to have a baby"

Nine months after Travis died in October 2019, Julie decided she was ready to become a mother, even solo. So she proceeded to the embryo transfer and a few days later discovered the long-awaited positive pregnancy test.

A little of him in her

Despite the joy of finally seeing a prospect of motherhood, Julie did not rejoice too quickly, due to the miscarriage she had previously had. “During my six week scan, I found out that I was pregnant with twins. Sadly, six weeks later, another scan revealed that one of the twins had not survived and had died. It was such a painful reality, but I continued to hope that all would be well with the remaining baby. " A staunch optimist and above all, full of faith, Julie kept her pregnancy near-secret until the second trimester.

Marion, mother of twins thanks to assisted reproduction in Spain

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Video by mylene.wascowiski

On May 9, 2020, a little over a year after Travis’s death, she gave birth to a baby Logan, "The most beautiful thing that ever happened to him". Now 15 months old, this baby looks a lot like someone very familiar to Julie. “I see it in her every day. I see it in her little expressions when she smiles. It soothes my heart so much that she looks so much like her daddy. I pray that when she is older her personality will include the best parts of him as well. " A wonderful lesson in life, which proves that even death cannot stop love.

In France, post-mortem PMA rejected in the Senate

Allowing a woman who has just lost her husband to continue with her assisted reproduction plan even after the latter's death should be a right, but it is still not relevant in France. A few weeks ago, the Senate surprised everyone by passing an amendment that opens the possibility of post-mortem medically assisted procreation (PMA). Barely accepted at first reading at the High Assembly, then voted, he was ultimately rejected.

Read also: Single at 41, Audrey Page used assisted reproduction to have a baby: "Being able to control your fertility also means emancipating yourself as a woman"

The deputies, who have the last word, voted against. The government also does not agree with this measure. "Allowing procreation after the death of the other member of the couple is a source of major ethical problems" warned Secretary of State for Children and Families, Adrien Taquet, whose comments are reported by Public Senate. The president of the LR group, Bruno Retailleau, for his part, highlighted "The risk that the child will be conceived not for himself, but as a remedy, (…) a kind of consolation for grief. "

The circumstances surrounding this postmortem ART procedure are so peculiar and call into question death itself. PCF Senator Pierre Ouzoulias, in this context, argued that his "grandfather was born of a father who died" during the First World War. He wishes "To leave the possibility for women to have families, sending this incredible message to death, that it will not reach us. " Because, should a child who was wanted but who, by terrible circumstances, not had the opportunity to know his father, not be born? "It is not a child born from a dead man, but a child conceived by a living", rightly estimated the LR chairman of the special commission, Alain Milon, during the debate.