A convicted murderer who was approved to give birth to a baby behind bars through IVF treatments has withdrawn her application following public outrage.
Alicia Schiller, then 26, brutally killed 31-year-old mother-of-three Tyrelle Evertson-Mostert in a drug-fuelled dispute over $50 in Geelong, Victoria, on November 9, 2014.
Schiller was sentenced to 16 years in prison in 2017, meaning her potential child would live with her at the maximum security Dame Phyllis Frost Center until they were five years old.
However, the inmate abandoned her plans to undergo IVF treatments after several public and private clinics said they would refuse to treat her.
Concerns were also raised about how much taxpayers would pay for the baby’s care in prison even though Schiller promised to use his own money from a property sale for both the IVF clinic and the cost of accompanying her there.
Victoria’s Labor government has promised to review laws governing IVF treatment for prisoners, but has stopped a Coalition initiative to introduce a bill banning prisoners from undergoing the procedure.
Schiller told authorities that once the boy turned five his mother would raise him, but on Friday the soon-to-be grandmother revealed that she did not agree with the plan.
The convicted murderer hit another roadblock after Melbourne IVF, Monash IVF and Victoria’s public fertility service said they would refuse to treat a prisoner.
Alicia Schiller (left) brutally killed 31-year-old mother-of-three Tyrelle Evertson-Mostert in a drug-fueled rage in Geelong, Victoria, on November 9, 2014 and was sentenced to 16 years in prison .
Schiller (pictured) wanted to undergo IVF treatment to have a child, but has now withdrawn her application after several IVF clinics said they would refuse to treat her.
Under the Assisted Reproductive Treatment Act, IVF centers can refuse treatment to a patient if they believe the child might be “at risk of abuse or neglect.”
Tobias Evertsen-Mostert was just 12 years old when Schiller killed his 25-year-old mother Tyrelle, just a year after his father’s death.
He previously described Schiller as an “animal” and said knowing she wouldn’t try to have a baby will mean he can “sleep a little easier.”
“It’s okay, for now, I just hope he doesn’t try it again,” she said.
Under current law, Schiller could be approved for treatment if she applied again.
Evertsen-Mostert doesn’t understand why the government can’t end the option of IVF treatment for prisoners.
‘He has the power. “It’s not just my family I think of when I say that, but other families who may have to go through the same pain as us,” he said.
“If you committed the crime, you should be serving time, regardless of what it is.”
Tyrelle Evertson-Mostert, 31 (pictured), was killed by Schiller when she took $50 and planned to replace it. His youngest son, four years old, was home at the time of the attack.