Diane Blood pregnant again

Diane Blood, the British woman who had a baby after being inseminated with her late husband Stephen's sperm, is pregnant for the second time.

After her husband died, two sperm samples were taken from him and stored by the Infertility Research Trust, Sheffield. The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority turned down Mrs Blood's request to be inseminated with his sperm, as he had not given written consent for the procedure. Mrs Blood fought a long legal battle, and was eventually able to travel to Belgium to use the sperm.

Mrs Blood travelled to the same Belgian hospital for the treatment that has resulted in her new pregnancy. She kept her pregnancy secret for the first few months but now says she is proud to be pregnant again and delighted to be able to provide a sibling for her existing son, Liam. She is hoping that the law will be changed before the second child is born, so that her husband's name can appear on the birth certificate. She said; 'The new child's birth certificate, like that of Liam, must show the father as 'unknown' which of course couldn't be further from the truth'. The Government promised to amend the law retrospectively in August 2000, but the Human Fertilisation and Embryology (Deceased Fathers) Bill was talked out of time in April 2001 and new legislation has yet to be introduced.