A Canadian widow has won the right to save her dead husband's sperm from being destroyed by a Canberra fertility clinic.
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The 27-year-old woman launched a bid to gain access to her husband's frozen sperm samples after he died, aged 26, in 2012.
The pair met when the man was an exchange student in Toronto and the woman later moved to Canberra to be with him, court documents said.
The man had his sperm frozen when he was told to undergo radiation therapy and chemotherapy after being diagnosed with cancer in his foot in 2009.
He signed a form at the clinic to say he understood his two sperm deposits would be destroyed if he died or was permanently disabled.
The pair spoke about having children using the sperm after the man found out his illness was terminal in 2010, but decided against it.
As his condition continued to deteriorate, the man told the woman he wanted her to use the sperm to have children after he died, court documents said.
The couple also decided the sperm should be used by two lesbian friends who wanted to have a baby together but couldn't find a suitable sperm donor.
The man did not leave a will and his estate was handed to the ACT Public Trustee after his death.
His widow contacted the fertility clinic to see if she needed to have the frozen sperm transferred into her name so she could use it later.
She was told the centre was legally obliged to destroy the samples now her husband had died.
The woman launched legal action against the trustee and fertility centre in the ACT Supreme Court earlier this month.
The woman sought court orders that would prevent the fertility clinic from destroying the sperm so long as she paid for it to be stored during a court hearing earlier this month.
She also asked that the sperm be handed over to herself or a third party so it could be used.
In a judgement published on Wednesday, Master David Mossop said the case hinged on whether frozen sperm that was deposited with permission before a man's death was personal property.
He said while there had been a significant number of cases that dealt with whether a woman could use her husband's sperm after he died, different problems arose when sperm had been taken with consent before the man's death.
Master Mossop found the stored semen constituted personal property and formed part of the man's estate.
He ordered that the fertility clinic could not destroy the sample as long as the storage fee was paid.
Master Mossop said further court orders might be made to decide when and how the sperm would be handed over.
