Virginia Judge Uses 19th-Century Slavery Law to Rule Frozen Embryos Are Property
The Guardian (UK) | 3/10/23

In divorce case, judge rules human embryos may be valued and sold, and therefore may be considered ‘goods or chattels’

Frozen human embryos can legally be considered property, or “chattel”, a Virginia judge has ruled, basing his decision in part on a 19th-century law governing the treatment of enslaved people.

The preliminary opinion by a Fairfax county circuit court judge, Richard Gardiner, which he delivered in a long-running dispute between a divorced husband and wife, is being criticized by some for wrongly and unnecessarily delving into a time in Virginia history when it was legal to own human beings.