Judge finds frozen embryos are not divisible property in cancer survivor’s case against ex-husband

The Associated Press
March 17, 2025, 5:06 AM

FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) — A northern Virginia judge determined embryos are not property that can be divided up, rejecting a previous analysis by the court saying such fertilized eggs could be considered divisible “goods or chattel” based on 19th-century slave law.

Nearly 10 months after closing arguments, Fairfax Circuit Court Judge Dontaè L. Bugg wrote in an opinion letter earlier this month that he would dismiss a cancer survivor’s partition lawsuit against her ex-husband — a legal action that one property owner can take against another. The former wife, Honeyhline Heidemann, sued Jason Heidemann over access to two embryos they froze during a 2015 cycle of in vitro fertilization but agreed to leave in storage during their divorce three years later.

In the bench trial, Honeyhline Heidemann testified the embryos were her last chance to conceive another biological child after a cancer treatment. Jason Heidemann’s attorney argued he did not want to become a biological father to a child by force, even if he wasn’t required to be a parent.

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Olivia Diaz is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative.

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