A Wiltshire woman fighting for the right to become pregnant using a frozen embryo fertilised by her former partner took her case to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg today.

Natalie Evans, 34, from Trowbridge, wants to use an embryo created by IVF treatment using the sperm of her former partner, Howard Johnston in 2001. Mr Johnston withdrew his consent for the embryo to be used after the couple separated. It is Ms Evans's last chance to have her own child after she had her ovaries removed because of cancer.

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 requires the consent of both partners involved in producing an embryo for it to be stored or implanted. Ms Evans has until October 2006 to use the embryo, when the five-year time-limit for its use expires.

Ms Evans claims that requiring her to have the father’s consent to use the embryos breaches the European Convention on Human Rights which governs the right to family life and that the rule also infringes the embryos’ own right to life.

She also claims the rule discriminates against infertile women, making it a possible breach of an anti-discrimination section of the European convention.

In 2003 Ms Evans and another woman, Lorraine Hedley, applied to the High Court to stop their former partners destroying their frozen embryos, claiming they were being discriminated against since if they had got pregnant naturally their partners would have had no say on the use of the embryos.

The women lost the High Court challenge and Ms Hadley accepted the ruling.

A spokesman for the European Court of Human Rights said it would probably take "several months" after today’s two-hour hearing for the Court to decide whether it can admit the case and then give a judgment.

The hearing in Strasbourg is Ms Evans’s last resort after the Court of Appeal refused her request last October to let her use the embryos.

The House of Lords refused to hear the case. The European Court of Human Rights ordered the embryos to be spared destruction in February to give it time to hear Ms Evans’ case.

Ms Evans and Mr Johnston had IVF treatment in 2001 while they were living together, producing six embryos that were frozen for future use. The couple separated the following year.

Ms Evans says she declined the option of using sperm from donors as a precaution against the father withdrawing his consent since Mr Johnston assured her their relationship would not end.

The rules on consent for the storage and use of frozen embryos are up for review in a public consultation on the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act, launched in August to assess the laws in the light of developments in medical research.

If the law were changed to remove the need for both partners’ consent to storage of embryos, they could then be kept for 10 years which might give the couple time to reach an agreement.

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