Manhattan widow Victoria Chege wants to freeze her dead husband's sperm
A Manhattan woman went to court for permission to extract sperm from her dead husband so she can raise the family she says he wanted.
After George Kamau committed suicide earlier this week, widow Victoria Chege decided she wanted to freeze his sperm and use it to conceive a child.
In court papers, she said the sperm would be implanted in her best friend, who has agreed to serve as a surrogate.
“It was the intent of George Kamau to conceive a child prior to his untimely death,” Chege wrote in papers filed in Manhattan Supreme Court.
“[He] expressed his desire to have children so that his legacy may continue,” Chege added.
Kamau, 37, hanged himself Monday in Norwalk, Conn., authorities said. No other details were available.
“Time is of the essence,” his widow said in court papers. “The sperm… must be harvested and frozen as soon as possible from the time of his death or it will be useless.”
Chege said the Sperm and Embryo Bank of New Jersey told her she needed a court order before the sperm could be removed and put on ice.
Justice Shirley Kornreich signed an order green-lighting the procedure on Thursday – but it may have come too late.
In previous cases, experts have said sperm must be extracted within 36 hours.
It was unclear why Chege planned to use her friend as a surrogate – and whether she planned to use her own eggs or the surrogate’s eggs to conceive the baby.
Her lawyer said he could not comment on the case, and Chege was not at her Edgecombe Ave. home last night.
“It’s a very sensitive time for her,” lawyer Troy Griffith said.
The request is not that rare.
Judges in several states, including Texas, California and New York, have given permission for sperm to be taken from dead men so their wishes for a family can be met.
Last year, a Bronx judge allowed sperm to be harvested so a dead man’s 2-year-old son could have a sibling, but the sample wasn’t robust enough to artificially inseminate his longtime love.
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