A father is suing a Harley Street fertility clinic for £1 million for letting his former partner conceive his child after they had split up.
The man says that she tricked doctors at Hammersmith Hospital in west London into impregnating her with a frozen egg fertilised by his sperm in October 2010, five months after their “volatile and rancorous” relationship irretrievably broke down.
The woman sent him an email on Valentine’s Day when into her third trimester with their child, saying “ . . . and by the way, I’m pregnant”, he told the High Court yesterday.
The pair, who are in their 40s but who cannot be identified for legal reasons, previously had a son together using IVF. More of their eggs and sperm were being held in cold storage at the clinic run by IVF Hammersmith Limited, of Harley Street.
The father, who is now married to another woman, says that his former partner forged his signature to secure the release of the fertilised eggs without his permission.
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The mother gave birth to a daughter in 2011, whom the father “understandably loves” despite the circumstances in which he says she was conceived.
Denying that the clinic was not told of their split until 18 months after the baby was born, the man told the judge: “I phoned the clinic on February 15, 2011, to reveal all. I wanted to know what had gone on. I’d never agreed to get her pregnant.”
He is bringing an unprecedented claim for breach of contract, demanding £1 million for the cost of raising his daughter, who is now six, plus legal fees for a custody battle with her mother.
The father says that looking after his daughter has placed on him “a financial burden which is not offset by any benefits”. The seven-figure claim includes hundreds of thousands of pounds for the girl’s private education plus funding for a nanny, ski holidays in Canada and an eight-seater Land Rover Discovery.
Jeremy Hyam, QC, for the clinic, told Mr Justice Jay yesterday that it was not to blame. He argued that even if the father’s signature on the “consent to thaw” form was found to be forged, the clinic should not have to pay out. “Assuming that the signature has been forged, that doesn’t disturb the fact that we took proper care to ascertain that his reasonable consent was obtained.”
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The barrister claimed that the father played a full part in the IVF process until months before the final form was signed and had signed one form even after the couple had split.
Michael Mylonas, QC, for the father, told the judge: “The obligation was to obtain his informed consent and they [the clinic] did not do that. Documentation signed by the former couple was supposed to put in place safeguards in relation to future treatment. In breach of those safeguards, the defendant allowed the embryo to be implanted.”
The woman denies forging the signature. She is also the subject of a claim by the clinic. The hearing continues.