London - A successful young City banker and her husband are set to become the first couple to freeze an embryo for later childbirth at a more convenient stage in their careers. The pair from Enfield will make a decision shortly after private consultations with a leading gynaecologist, who is also awaiting final ethical approval from his hospital colleagues. Its legality was upheld by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority.
The banker, who is 32 and described as ambitious and career-orientated, was one of a series of women to inquire about embryo-freezing at the Bupa Roding hospital in Essex. She and her husband, an equally dedicated 34-year-old merchant banker, have been married for four years. The main practical ethical issue centres on the fate of an embryo if the couple separates and argues over its future.