Although they say you just know when you meet "the one," it doesn't guarantee that you'll have a fairy tale ending.
A woman named Ayla Cresswell thought she would spend the rest of her life with boyfriend Joshua Davies until he committed suicide in 2016.
Following his death, the 25-year-old banker immediately sought an emergency court order to harvest his sperm and bear his child. However, despite having the support of both their families, she still needed court approval to start the insemination process.
Until Wednesday's ruling, Cresswell was paying to keep the sperm in storage.
"She's thought about it, had counselling, gone through many hoops, and had many tests to see if she can conceive," Cresswell's lawyer Kathryn McMillan QC told the court last year.
After nine months of deliberation, Queensland supreme court justice Susan Brown ruled Cresswell would be allowed to use Davis' sperm to conceive a child.
Brown also said that Cresswell is the only person entitled to use Davis' sperm, since the way it was removed meant it had the ability to be classified as her property.
However, it's still up to the discretion of the medical clinic on whether or not they go through with the procedure.
Although the court justice clarified that while her ruling didn't mean Davis had consented to Cresswell using his sperm should he pass away, there was "clear evidence that Joshua Davies expressed a desire to have children."
"While Joshua Davies' family and friends believe he would support the decision of Ms. Cresswell to make this application ... that is based on his express desires premised on them both being alive," she said in her judgement.
This included text message exchanges where Davis revealed he did want to eventually become a father.
Brown said she was also satisfied the young woman's decision was not "an irrational response to grief" and that the potential offspring would be "loved, cared for and supported."
"I am satisfied ... any child which may be conceived as a result of the use of Joshua Davies' sperm will be loved, cared for and able to be financially and emotionally supported, not only by Ms. Cresswell but by the extended family," she concluded.
For more intriguing stories about sperm donors, check out these unbelievable stories:
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- Fertility Doctor Sued For Implanting Own Sperm In Dozens Of Patients
[H/T: Buzzfeed News, The Guardian]