Widow fights destruction of her late husband's sperm

Physiotherapist Beth Warren, 28, from Birmingham, today challenged a storage time limit on her dead husband's sperm, imposed by the UK fertility regulator, in the High Court.

Judge Mrs Justice Hogg reserved judgment and said she would deliver a ruling at a date to be fixed.

A widow who is fighting the destruction of her late husband's sperm says she is too "heartbroken" to have his child right now, but wants to have the option when she is more settled.

Beth Warren, 26, spoke to Daybreak about how she was told she had "six weeks to become pregnant" after losing her husband and brother in quick succession, if she was to stay within a legal timeframe.

"Right now I am still feel heartbroken and it's not the time to have a child because I feel lonely and want that little part of him back - I need to do it at a time that is right."

Read: Widow fights destruction of her late husband's sperm

Widow Beth Warren has said coping with the personal trauma of her loss of her late husband made it impossible for her to make any decisions about her future within the timescale, and wants it extended so she can make a choice in her own time.

However the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has said it has "no discretion to extend the storage period beyond that to which her husband gave written consent".

The issue will now be determined by family division judge Mrs Justice Hogg. Although the case is to be heard today, Ms Warren's solicitor, James Lawford Davies, said it was "unlikely" a ruling would immediately follow due to the case's complexity.

• Read: Widow fights destruction of her late husband's sperm

A widow who is trying to stop her late husband's sperm being destroyed is taking her case to the High Court today. Legal representatives of Beth Warren, 26, will ask a judge to rule on her challenge to a time limit imposed by the UK fertility regulator.

It means she has until April 2015 to conceive using the sample her husband placed in storage before dying. Warren Brewer, a ski instructor, was 32 when he lost a long battle with cancer in February 2012.

In a double tragedy, his death from a brain tumour happened just weeks after Ms Warren's brother died in a car crash.

Mr Brewer had signed consent forms allowing the storage of his sperm so Ms Warren could conceive after his death, known as post-mortem conception, but on a time-limited basis after which the samples are set to be destroyed.