IVF laws when partner is still married

[weeirish]

Hi all, this is my first time posting on here but I can't seem to find any advice/threads on this topic. Please be kind:
My partner is still married to his ex unfortunately, and we are currently starting our fertility support journey through the NHS.
Does anyone know if him remaining married to someone else would be an issue??
We have been living together almost 4 years.
I'm so worried :(

I went private but as far as I recall marital status wasn't an issue, the consents are mainly to do with if one were to die would embryos be used by other person etc etc. I kept my last name so for all intents and purposes they probably thought my husband and I weren't married based on that. As long as you're two consenting adults agreeing to IVF together and signing and providing ID then it was all kosher. I think marital status was on the forms but you would just put in not married as you aren't married to eachother I'd imagine, might be wrong!

Like pp I don't recall marital status being mentioned. I didn't take my husbands surname and can't recall anything else in the paperwork where I had to state we were married.

I went through nhs and we were asked if we were previously married to anyone as we both not married to each other nd they just had to check that .There was something in the consents about this also but I really can't remember what it was sorry as it didn't apply to us

@Imisscoffee2021 OP is not married but her partner is.
OP I’d urge him to get on with divorce proceedings ASAP, there are other complications to him being still married to his ex. Someone else is legally his wife (assuming female ex). You want to have a child with him if treatment works, you don’t want any entanglement with your partner’s wife. If she were to have a child he would be automatically assumed to be the father by law in the UK. That could potentially scupper NHS IVF funding. It’s a far fetched scenario for sure but I wouldn’t be at the point of starting fertility treatment with a man who is married to someone else. Leaving aside fertility treatments what if something happened to him? Would his wife be considered next of kin?
IVF is stressful enough without unnecessary complications, the sooner it is sorted the better.

I am by no means a legal expert so happy to be corrected, but my understanding is it's only an issue if a female has a child whilst still married and uses a sperm donor, as in theory her (ex) husband could be classed as the second legal parent, if his ex had a baby with another man then this would trump the link by marriage as the man she conceived with would automatically have parental rights

Maybe laws might differ per region. I'm in Northern Ireland.
I am legally single . We have never married but have been together 13 years.
The consultant did ask us something if we were previously married to anyone prior. I'm guessing because we are not married to each other they had to check we weren't in a legal marriage to someone other than the person were pursuing treatment with.
I am really not certain on this matter but of course you can pursue treatment as a single person but as your partner is technically legally married this may be an issue. You should probably seek legal advice. At the end of the day they are still legal spouses. It may be different because your the mother but it it were the way around and say you were still legally married, your ex would still legally be the baby father.
There may still be some sort of legal concerns when it's the man. If something were to happen you , could she have any legal rights as its still her husbands child and sibling to any children they have.

Not to sound rude but I don't understand why your pursuing this with a man who's legally married to another woman ? Why isn't he seeking a divorce?

I had IVF via the NHS and my partner has been divorced for about 7 years, they were absolutely adamant they needed proof of his divorce. They wouldn't proceed further without this on file. I'm not sure what the standard procedure is on this but my clinic had very strong views on this.
I didn't ask why this was an issue as it wasn't a problem for us but it might have something to do with any frozen embryos possibly being the responsibility of the ex partner as on paper they are still married etc.

@HeyMona I'm sure OP understands the urgency of him getting divorced - presumably there are issues given it's been 4 years! She just wanted advice re IVF processes.

Unfortunately this will most definitely be a stumbling block.
Your partner is LEGALLY married to another woman. They do background checks.
your partner whom your looking to use his sperm is still in a legal marriage.
Consents are required before ivf commences and issues may arise regarding storage of such embryos since your partner is in a legal marriage with someone else.
You may losing your nhs funding in this scenario
Why hasn't he initiated a divorce after 4 years?
Since you two are planning in having a child together has he not contemplated this?
He needs to get proceedings rolling if this is what you wish to pursue

I'm unsure why people are saying it's a definite issue when this is incorrect information, there is no issue with treatment as you and only you would be the legal mother and your partner would be the legal father, his previous partner is of no concern to the clinic beyond him being asked if he was married and if so was it to his treatment partner or not, as I said it's only a possible barrier if a female is married but separated and not divorced and using donor sperm/embryos

I'm answering this from the legal/consent side by the way, the issue with NHS funding will be specific to your ICB so should be looked into separately

Hi, I was in the same position as you, the question was never raised, he did have his decree nisi before we started treatment, but his absolute didn’t come through until during. And we were never asked in terms of previous partners / marital status, we were only asked to confirm if we were married to each other and cohabiting with each other.
All forms that were signed (my rights to his sperm should anything happen to him etc) were signed with no questions of his ‘legal’ next of kin etc.
I would imagine this is a clinic by clinic issue though…. When it was me we just never mentioned it, if it had came up then we would have dealt with it but it didn’t, so 🤞🏼 for you xx

You shouldn't find a difference between clinics as the HFEA are only concerned about the birth parents marital status and even then only if using donor sperm, the law thinks if donor sperm is used then the spouse/civil partner is the parent if not legally separated.

But there is a difference between CCGs in terms of funding, they have different regulations regarding length you have been together / TTC etc so it’s likely they will have different guidelines on each partners marital status.
OP stated this was her NHS funded round so I imagine it is the funding part that is her concern.
I would imagine if you are paying private that all clinics would accept one partner being separated but still legally married if they are using their own eggs & sperm.

I agree, that's why I said in my follow up post that the ICB would be best placed to advise regarding the NHS funding aspect as I was advising regarding legal parenthood and the law, the title of the post implies it's around the law specifically and there are some posts that state it would be an issue which is incorrect, I wanted to clarify for anyone else reading who may have a male partner who was separated and not divorced

Thanks to everyone who has given me helpful information!! Mind is slightly more at ease. ❤️ We've had such an incredibly difficult journey, like many others on here. Actively TTC for 3 years, endometriosis diagnosis/surgery and misscarriage along the way, and a hell of a lot of heartbreak already. The only thing I've ever been certain of in life is that I wanted to be a mum, and I my previous relationship was abusive and not one I could safely try to get pregnant in. My time is ticking on and I'm desperate and scared it won't happen for us.

To the people judging about divorce - I didn't ask anyone's opinions on that, I wanted advice on it in relation to IVF and NHS funding. I obviously want him to get divorced but it's not as simple as you seem to think.

Thank you! ❤️

I was in the same situation with the endometriosis and MC, with regards to funding search for 'ICB assisted conception policy' for your own ICB and it's likely you may find the document online that should reference if a partner being married has implications on funding, if you don't know your ICB ask your GP (was previously known as CCG)

Be mindful if you are considering paying private to speed things up, with most ICBs you forfeit an NHS cycle for each self funded cycle

Good luck