“The parties have several frozen embryos kept in storage at a facility operated by Boston Reproductive Medicine, PLLC, also referred to as “CCRM Fertility” or “CCRM Boston”. This facility is located in the area of Boston, Massachusetts. It is not disputed that CCRM Fertility requires both parties to consent, or a Court Order, before embryos can be destroyed or otherwise dealt with.
The father seeks an order for the destruction of the frozen embryos. The mother does not want the embryos to be destroyed, citing moral and religious concerns. Instead, she wishes to relocate the embryos to a more economically efficient facility for indefinite storage at her cost (it currently costs $1,000 U.S. to keep them stored at CCRM Fertility). After the deaths of one or both of the parties, the mother wishes to have the embryos donated to a credible facility to assist a family in reproduction.
The parties’ rights and obligations in relation to the embryos are governed by the detailed contract that they signed with CCRM Fertility. The law applicable to this contract is that applicable in the State of Massachusetts, not the Canadian Assisted Human Reproduction Act, S.C. 2004, c. 2. In my view, this Court does not have jurisdiction to make an order related to embryos that are located outside of Canada.
Therefore, I decline making any order in relation to the parties’ embryos.”