government
High court rejects benefits claim for IVF children conceived posthumously
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted June 4, 2012
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that children conceived by in vitro fertilization after the death of the father are not entitled to survivor benefits.
The decision comes from the case of a widow who sued the federal government after the Social Security Administration denied a benefits claim filed on behalf of her two children. The woman gave birth to twins using her husband’s banked sperm after he died of cancer. She contended that the children were due survivor benefits because they were the children of a married father.
In an unanimous decision issued May 21, the high court rejected the claim, saying children conceived by reproductive technology after the father is deceased do not automatically qualify for Social Security survivor benefits (link).
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2012/06/04/gvbf0604.htm.
