Reber v. Reiss
Pennsylvania Superior Court
42 A.3d 1131 (2012)
- Written by Rich Walter, JD
Facts
Bret Howard Reber (plaintiff) sued Andrea Lynn Reiss (defendant) for divorce. The marital property subject to the divorce court’s jurisdiction included 13 cryogenically stored pre-embryos containing the couple’s genetic material. The pre-embryos had been produced some years earlier, through in vitro fertilization, when Reiss was facing aggressive medical treatment that she rightly guessed would free her of cancer but leave her infertile. Reiss was childless and, without access to the pre-embryos, likely could never bear a child of her own. Reiss’s circumstances made adoption an impractical substitute for biological motherhood. Reber, on the other hand, had already fathered one child by another woman, and there was no biological reason that he could not do so again. Reber wanted the pre-embryos destroyed. If Reiss used the pre-embryos procreatively, Reber feared that he could neither be an important part of the resulting child’s life nor support the child financially. Reiss responded by promising to involve Reber in the child’s upbringing and to forego Reber’s financial assistance. The court granted Reber’s divorce but awarded the pre-embryos to Reiss. Reber appealed to the Pennsylvania Superior Court.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Strassburger, J.)
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