Testimony wraps up in San Francisco embryo case

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- An emotionally-charged trial over frozen embryos involving a cancer survivor, her ex-husband, and UCSF, wrapped up testimony on Friday. The woman says the embryos are her last chance to have a child of her own.

Dr. Mimi Lee says she rushed to sign paperwork at UCSF, anything to preserve her fertility so she go on and begin to treat her cancer. But that paperwork said the embryos would be destroyed in the case of divorce.

The trial over embryos frozen at UCSF may only be the mid-point of a major legal battle.

"We're prepared to take this up as far as the appeal goes," Lee's attorney, Peter Skinner, said.

In 2010, Lee, an anesthesiologist, and her then-husband Steven Findley signed paperwork to create embryos at UCSF.

"And under California law, there's a big difference between a medical directive and a binding contract," Skinner said.

Fresh from a cancer diagnosis and aware of her advanced age, Lee testified she signed the documents without much thought. Now years later and divorced, she wants the embryos, something UCSF and Findley's attorneys are fighting in San Francisco Superior Court.

"They want the medical directive enforced and the medical directive in this circumstance calls for the embryos to be thawed and discarded," Skinner said.

Neither would comment on Friday, but Skinner says the case boils down to the definition of the document.

Utehs: "So your position is it's not a contract?"

Skinner: "That's exactly right. As a medical consent form, it contains directives of how things should be done at a certain point in time. They can be revoked or changed at any point."

Closing arguments are scheduled for Aug. 4. Then the presiding judge will issue her ruling.