LONDON - Two women began a battle in Britain's High Court to be allowed to use their frozen embryos to have babies, a move which is opposed by their former partners.

Natallie Evans, 31, and Lorraine Hadley, 38, both underwent in vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment with their respective partners and have embryos in storage.

However, both women are now separated from their partners, who have since withdrawn consent for the use of the embryos.

The women are seeking to challenge the current law which says that unless both parties consent to storage and use, the embryos must be destroyed.

The women say that once the embryos have been created and stored it is too late for consent to be withdrawn and that to destroy them is a breach of their human rights.

Evans views the case as critical because she had her ovaries removed after it was discovered they were pre-cancerous.

She told the court in London that if she had known that her former partner would one day withdraw his consent for use of the embryos she would have pursued a different form of treatment. "My embryos are my last chance of having a child of my own," Evans said. "I would do anything to have one." Muiris Lyons, a lawyer for the two women, said: "The case raises important legal, moral and ethical issues as to the rights of an embryo, its status and position in law, and the competing interests of a woman desperate to become a mother and a man who has no wish to become a father."

Howard Johnston, Evans' former partner, said in a statement that he had to take into account the financial responsibilities he would have for any child. His solicitor, James Grigg, said: "Mr Johnston has a great deal of sympathy for Miss Evans in these difficult circumstances. He very much hopes that she will eventually be able to understand his decision."

"Mr Johnston also hopes that Miss Evans' wish for children can be satisfied in some other way, perhaps within a new relationship and by the use of a donor egg," Grigg added.

Hadley's former husband, Wayne, refused to consent to the embryos being used because he did not want a child to be born after their marriage ended.

The court hearing, was expected to last six days, AFP reported.