The husband filed for divorce because his wife refused to donate her liver, but the court determined that she was not at fault, on the contrary, the husband’s coercion and insults were the cause of the marriage breakdown.
Programme Morning Wide SBS on November 26 reported on the story of a couple divorcing due to liver transplant issues. The husband, diagnosed with a rare liver disease and given just one year to live, asked his wife to donate her liver after she was determined to be a “match” for the transplant, according to Nate on December 1.
The wife refused, citing fear of sharp objects. “Even seeing the injection scared me and the thought of a sharp scalpel made me completely unable to lie down on the operating table,” she said. Even though she refused to donate organs, this woman still devotedly took care of her husband during his illness.
In response to that care, the husband thought his wife was fake and constantly used insulting words. The husband’s parents also put pressure and criticized the daughter-in-law for “planning to sit still and watch her husband die”. Family conflicts are becoming more and more serious.
Luckily, a brain-dead organ donor matched the husband’s index. He received a liver transplant from this brain-dead donor and recovered his health. However, as soon as he recovered, he investigated and discovered that his wife did not have the syndrome of fear of sharp objects as mentioned.
Admitting to lying, the wife explained that she was concerned that the risks of surgery would affect her ability to care for her young daughter. Despite his plea for forgiveness, the husband still filed for divorce with the question: “Do you care whether I live or die?”.
Theo Chosunthe court ruled that the wife’s refusal to donate her liver was not grounds for divorce. The court declared that “organ donation is a matter of high autonomy for each person’s body” and “her refusal cannot be held responsible for the breakdown of the marriage”. As the guardian of a young child, the wife certainly has real worries and concerns about her own health.
Due to irreparable conflicts, the two then agreed to divorce and continued to go to the court of appeal to determine who was responsible for the breakup. Here, the Trial Council sided with the wife.
The verdict clearly shows that the root cause of the separation did not lie in the wife’s lies or decision to refuse to donate her liver. The responsibility lies entirely with the husband for forcing his partner, insulting and seriously damaging the trust between the two parties. This ruling is a wake-up call about the limits of ethics and law in family medical matters.
In fact, liver donation from a living donor is a complex major surgery with a donor complication rate of up to 15-30%, including infection, bile leakage and long recovery time. In the international standard organ transplant process, the principle of voluntariness is paramount, doctors are responsible for canceling the surgery if they detect that the donor is under any psychological pressure or coercion from the family.