The High Court has ruled that the State must pay the legal costs of the husband and the wife at the centre of the case involving three frozen embryos stored at a Dublin clinic.
The costs in the case could be as high as €2 million.
Last week, the 41-year-old woman who took the case lost her legal battle to have the embryos released to her.
She had been seeking to have them implanted in her womb. However, her estranged husband had objected to another pregnancy using the frozen embryos.
The court found the embryos were not 'unborn' within the meaning of the Constitution and were not entitled to the constitutional protection provided for the unborn.
Normally an unsuccessful plaintiff in a High Court case would have costs awarded against him or her.
But Mr Justice Brian McGovern said this case raised points of exceptional public importance.
And he said he was taking into account the absence of a legislative or regulatory regime relating to IVF.
He said the husband and the wife at the centre of this case had suffered enough trauma due to their separation and their dispute over the embryos and he said he was not going to add to that.
He awarded both the husband and the wife their costs against the Attorney General.
The woman made no comment after the case.
It is not yet clear if she will appeal to the Supreme Court. It is understood her solicitor will issue a statement before the end of the week.
