Girl meets boy. Girl and boy fall in love (or at least into like and lust). Girl receives cancer diagnosis. Girl and boy make some frozen embryos. Girl goes into remission. Girl and boy break up via text message. Girl wants to gestate the embryos (meaning she wants to become pregnant). Boy does not want to be a father.
The above story is the series of events in a real life case. Dr. Karla Dunston is the woman who as a result of her cancer treatment cannot have a child other than with the frozen embryos. The father is Jacob Szafranski, a nurse, paramedic & firefighter. The judge ruled that the verbal contract the couple had made when Szafranski agreed to father embryos with Dunston was binding and that the womans wish to procreate (to have children) outweigh the mans desire not to procreate. Whats unique about this case from previous ones is that the couple here were never married (is that an important fact, why or why not?).
In 2010, the couple went to a Chicago fertility clinic and signed a consent form that stated that no embryo could be used without permission of both parties unless there is another contract or divorce decree. An attorney drafted a co-parenting agreement for the couple that stated Szafranski would undertake any obligations no matter what happened in their relationship and that Dunston would have all control over the embryos. That contract was never signed. In April 2010, both individuals made their donations. In May 2010, Szafranski initiated the break up. In August 2011, he filed suit to prevent Dunston from using the embryos saying that he had changed his mind. Dunston countersued for sole custody of the embryos and won. Szafranski appealed the case.
You response to the assignment should be a minimum of four pages in order to address the questions completely and with detailed explanations of the facts. Under no cirmstances should your response include a retelling of the facts of the case. You are to analyze the facts, explain in part of your answer in detail and use examples where appropriate to do so. In order to do a good job on this assignment, you may have to write more than a four page response to the questions so do not limit yourself to four pages if your response requires more page to fully address the questions.
As with all assignments, you must write in 12 point font size, double-space your paper, submit it through TigerWrite for a tutor’s assistance with grammar, punctuation and sentence structure (syntax) before you submit the assignment to me for a grade. Since the tutor’s are no longer providing tutor’s logs, you must take a screen shot of the tutor’s comments as proof of your submission to TigerWrite. All assignments must be uploaded to the Assignment page in order to have your paper automatically checked by the SafeAssign system for plagiarism. Your paper must not contain excessive spacing between papragraphs, sentences or headings and the only heading I want on your paper is your name. Do not include the course name, my name, the date, the module name or the name of the assignment as all that does is waste space.
1. Did a contract exist between Dunston and Szafranski? If there was a contract, what type was it and why?
2. Did the May 2010 “break up text” have any effect on the signed fertility clinic consent form, why or why not?
3. Discuss the elements of contract law that apply to this case, with detailed explanations of each, and present an argument, based on the law of contracts, regarding who should win this case.
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