A cancer sufferer is trying to save her chances of parenthood as a legal loophole threatens to destroy her embryos.

The Sutton woman, who does not want to be named, had her embryos frozen before she underwent chemotherapy for cervical cancer.

The treatment left her infertile but she was able to have one child under a surrogacy arrangement.

However under the law her remaining eggs will be destroyed in September, cutting short her dreams of extending her family.

MP for Sutton and Cheam Paul Burstow said the eggs were stored under the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 which only allows storage for five years.

However, last year Parliament passed a new law which extends this to ten years.

Mr Burstow said the woman’s case highlighted the need to close the gap before thousands of parents see their hopes of parenthood killed.

He said: “For families caught in this legal limbo who want a chance to have a family it is the worst nightmare.

“I believe that there is an overwhelming moral case for extending the storage period and taking these embryos off death row.”

Before Parliament closed for summer Mr Burstow raised the issue in Parliament and called for a debate before MPs return in October.

He said: “Regulations governing who is and is not covered by the new act are currently before Parliament.

“It would be tragic if embryos were destroyed in September before Parliament had a chance to bring its judgment to bear on the matter.

“I hope that, at the very least, ministers will act to prevent that destruction prior to the Parliament returning in October.”

The freezing of embryos began in 1983, because in-vitro fertilisation treatment usually produces more embryos than can be replaced in the womb.

The spare embryos are stored in liquid nitrogen.

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