Divorced Michigan couple’s fight over frozen embryo won’t be decided by high court

The Michigan Supreme Court won’t settle a dispute over who gets a frozen embryo in a divorce.

The case involved a Michigan couple who disagreed over what to do with their last frozen embryo when they got divorced in 2019. Sarah Markiewicz, 47, wanted to use it to have another child, but David Markiewicz didn’t want any more kids.

The Michigan Supreme Court declined to intervene Friday, April 25 saying “the facts in this matter are unique and do not present a good vehicle to address the weighty issues arising from in vitro fertilization and the human embryos created in the process.”

The case could have set a precedent for how Michigan handles frozen embryo disputes moving forward.

But in a two-page order, Justice Brian Zahra wrote the court should not decide the case. He argued it highlights “significant policy questions” that would be “most appropriately resolved” by lawmakers because it raises the question of how the law should treat embryos.

“This question implicates some of the most perplexing debates in society, invoking deep-seated and conflicting beliefs about morality, ethics, religion, human life, and personal autonomy,” he said.

After the Markiewiczes got married in 2009, Sarah Markiewicz spent years struggling to get pregnant before asking her sister to donate an egg. It was then fertilized by David, successfully implanted in Sarah, and they welcomed their first child, a daughter, in 2012.

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