MALDON, Australia, April 30 (UPI) -- An Australian woman jailed for receiving nearly $140,000 in benefits illegally is asking a court to let her receive in-vitro fertilization treatments in prison.
Kimberley Castles, 45, a prisoner at Tarrengower Prison near Maldon, has been asking authorities to allow her to undergo the treatments since December and said she will become ineligible for the procedure in seven months when she turns 46, the Melbourne Herald-Sun reported Friday.
Castles, whose 2-year-old daughter lives with her at the minimum security facility, claims in papers filed with the Supreme Court that authorities are breaking the Charter of Human Rights by refusing to allow her to receive in-vitro fertilization, which she would pay for.
"It is unlawful for (prison authorities) to act in a way that is incompatible with a human right," Castles' lawyers wrote. "The charter provides that Kimberley has the right not to have family unlawfully or arbitrarily interfered with. ... It is unlawful discrimination to prevent Kimberley from accessing the treatment which she requires to conceive."
Castles was sentenced in November to three years in jail with a minimum of 18 months. She was convicted of welfare fraud for fraudulently claiming nearly $140,000 in single-parent benefits and filing for benefits under assumed names.
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