General Chat

What if that embryo had been a child? would it have been taken away and killed when they split? The lady should have won her appeal. Did the father (lets face it thats what he is) think when the time came she would have an abortion if she got pregnant? Janet

i agree gillie

He made his choice when he agreed to fertilise his wifes eggs. Am disgusted at the outcome......and hope that he is pleased with his 'victory' There would have been so much happiness if the decision had gone the other way. Disgusted and Sad I feel actually He had nothing to lose...she had everything K x

Mr Johnston said: 'I feel common sense has prevailed. Of course I am sympathetic, but I wanted to choose when, if and with whom I would have a child.' Surely he made that choice though in 2001! 'UK law is clear. It is a principal of shared responsibility.' Perhaps this needs to be reviewed.

Who was it that said ' the law is an ass' ??? I think it applies in this case. This man held the legal high ground - well good for him. Hope he sleeps soundly tonight. Morally this stinks.xx

Perhaps he was scared that the child support agency would chase him for money if she was out of work later on .???

Lynda just a little thing he wouldnt be on birth cert as they arent married he would have to be with her at the registration to get his name on it and he wouldnt of done that. Someone is gonna put me right now lol

JANET...... that is a brilliant point. I feel heart sick for her, but I do feel that he has rights too. What difference it would make to him now though, I find it hard to understand. I just hope something can be done for her. My life would have been EMPTY without my children. Deanna X

Would he have to pay child maitenance and would she allow access now they are no longer together after all this time fighting in court would they want there paths to cross again Baz

Lynda not sure have never been in that situation thankfully.

Lynda if someone claims income support then they get a visit from the CSA and they have to name the father unless there is a very good reason, ie violence, for them not to. If they refuse then they lose benefits.

ive just thought...........im anti abortion.hmmmmmmmmm,need to rethink.lol.xx

If she ended up on benefits then yes Lynda. The CSA would consider him financially liable regardless of whether he had wanted the child or not.

baz i think it could end up quite a battle ground,as im sure feelings must be running deep now.xx

I think the right decision was made. If he does not want a child with this woman then it is quite cut and dry. I feel for her but you cant force him to become a father in such a premeditated manner. He was part of fertilizing when they were together and yes had she used them then, they would have children now, but they didn't so forcing him to be a father now would be unfair.

I've seen a lot of this on our local news over the last few years because she's from my area. I do feel a certain amount of sympathy for her but there are other ways in which she can become a mother. Sadly, having children is a privilege not a right and I think that he has behaved responsibly in admitting that he doesn't want to father a child by his ex. He has actually said that he would feel duty bound to pay for the upkeep if she had a child by him. Could he possibly have been swayed by 'emotional blackmail' at the time of her illness? I don't know, but it's a possibility that he looks back with hindsight and made a decision that he now regrets. After all this high profile in the media, how would any resulting child feel when they got to 18 and discovered how unwanted they were by their natural father? A very difficult one I agree, but I think the right decision has been made. Mandy

Ican understand both sides but........We are tax payers and will she now go on to have IVF coz she wants a child and cost us far more than is needed If she is to have IVF this is without concent of the donar!!??? Very odd laws we live by.At least the way she and we know who the father is!!

Sorry but if this man did not want children why on earth did he say yes to the embryo? Talk about cake and eat it!! I suppose a lot also depends on when you think life starts, men still have to deal with paying out when a child is involved after any split, why should this be different. Janet

i think he is totally wrong she has no other chance of having her own children i hope with all my heart that his new partener leaves him and takes the children or child they have and never lets him see them, also i hope he becomes sterile so that he knows what its like not to have children i am glad i dont know him as he would have a enemy for life val :-((((

Isn't the issue here that this is her only chance to have her own natural children? Say the position was truly reversed. Say it is the same situation with Frozen embryos except the father became sterile and the mother didn't want children. In that scenario I think he should be allowed to have the embryos implanted in another woman's womb (with the other woman's consent of course) in the same way that I think she should be allowed to have these children. After all he gave consent initially and she made life changing choices based on that. It's a sad situation unfortunately.