A woman in Portugal became the first to give birth to a baby her late husband after in vitro fertilization was legalized autopsy in this country.
Ángela Ferreira led the movement to legalize this type of procedure; It involves using a man’s cryopreserved semen to conceive after his death.
This is how she welcomed Guilherme as a result of her relationship with her husband, who died of cancer in 2019.
“Today our world was more enlightened. Guilherme was born at 11:09 am at 3,915 kg and 50.5 cm. He’s a healthy kid. Thank you my darling Hugo Neves Ferreira for choosing me for this dream!” Angela wrote on her social networks.
Her case quickly made headlines as she faced an entire legal battle to get pregnant by her late husband.
However, with his signature, Hugo had confirmed his wish that his wife, despite her fate, would become pregnant and have a child together.
The truth is that this dream fell through for several years because of a legal vacuum regarding post-mortem in vitro fertilization in Portugal.
Thank you everyone for your love and care! And now? Now I will isolate myself in this bubble of love and enjoy it as much as possible. I could and maybe should say more, but right now I want to enjoy this endless love,” added Angela.
A legal dispute over postmortem fertilization
The story of this couple was revealed in a documentary series by the Portuguese channel TVI in 2020 and managed to mobilize more than 100,000 people; who signed a petition for discussion of the proposal in Parliament.
After several projects by different parties and with a presidential veto, the autopsy was given the green light and came into force in Portugal in November 2021.
This allowed Angela to begin an entire medical process to conceive by her late husband. In February 2023, she announced that she was already expecting her baby.
The new rule allowed a woman to be fertilized with her deceased partner’s genetic material “in the case of express parental intentions”; However, it is only valid for a period of between six months and three years after death.
In addition, these babies are legally recognized as legitimate children of the deceased.
How does Most Mortem in vitro fertilization work?
Post-mortem in vitro fertilization (post-mortem IVF) is a method by which the sperm of the deceased man can be taken to fertilize his living wife’s egg or to use the egg that that person had frozen with full consent to use it after your death.
The technique has caused much controversy in some conservative and political sectors of the world; Therefore, in many countries there is no legal regulation for these types of cases.
In this way, the story of the woman who had a child with her deceased husband a few years after his death became a symbolic example of conceiving a child through in vitro fertilization after death.