Overview
- The Court of Appeal of Florence upheld a 2021 ruling denying the widow access to the cryopreserved sample.
- The panel ruled that post-mortem medically assisted procreation is not permitted in Italy and that any testamentary authorization for it is void for public-order reasons.
- Judges directed the sample's destruction to prevent the woman from taking it abroad for treatment in countries where post-mortem PMA is allowed.
- The man had banked his semen before cancer therapy and later wrote a handwritten will empowering his partner to use it after his death.
- The court also said the sample cannot be released for other lawful purposes without the deceased’s specific consent, and a Cassation appeal remains possible.