Should men father children after they’re dead?
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Medical ethics
Should men father children after they’re dead?
Discuss ethical issues with the Medical Ethics department of the BMA and the Institute of Medical Ethics. Please note, the views posted here do not necessarily represent the views of the BMA or the IME
Bonnie Rochman writes in Time Healthland about the using the sperm of dead men to conceive. She points to one example in Israel where grieving grandparents petitioned a court to allow them to
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Forums » Open clinical » Medical ethics » Should men father children after they’re dead?
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Should men father children after they’re dead?
posted at 31/7/2012 11:41 AM BST
on bmj.com
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*Moderator*
Posts: 1497
First: 7/4/2011 Last: 19/6/2013 |
Bonnie Rochman writes in Time Healthland about the using the sperm of dead men to conceive. She points to one example in Israel where grieving grandparents petitioned a court to allow them to use their dead son’s sperm to conceive a grandchild. Rochman writes that 27-year-old Ohad Ben-Yaakov wasn’t married or in a committed relationship. But his parents, Mali and Dudi Ben-Yaakov, had his sperm extracted and are waiting for a ruling from the country’s attorney general to find out whether they can use IVF to impregnate a surrogate with his child. ‘If we were entitled to donate the organs of our son why are we not entitled to make use of his sperm in order to bring offspring to the world?’ they asked in Haaretz, an Israeli newspaper.” “In 2003, it [Israel] codified guidelines surrounding posthumous reproduction that allow a spouse or partner to use a dead man’s sperm unless he had specified that was unacceptable.” http://healthland.time.com/2011/06/03/should-men-be-allowed-to-father-children-after-theyre-dead/ Should presumed consent be allowed – unless a man has stated that he does not wish to be a father after death? And, is there any difference between organ donation and sperm donation? What do you think? Should men father children after they’re dead? |
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Re: Should men father children after they’re dead?
posted at 31/7/2012 12:20 PM BST
on bmj.com
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Posts: 1343
First: 13/4/2010 Last: 19/6/2013 |
I think there should be explicit pre-death consent and it should only be allowed in circumances of a long-established relationship with clear evidence that they were planning a family/another child but where the spouse dies relatively unexpectedly before this could happen. I think the Israeli case you quote in nonsense and unethical too. |
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Re: Should men father children after they’re dead?
posted at 31/7/2012 2:57 PM BST
on bmj.com
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Posts: 1216
First: 19/4/2010 Last: 19/6/2013 |
I don't think there's any difference between organ donation and sperm donation in one important aspect - there should be consent from the individual to allow it. Either there is implied consent and people opt out, or there is only active consent, but either way, there needs to be consent. |
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Re: Should men father children after they’re dead?
posted at 31/7/2012 6:11 PM BST
on bmj.com
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Posts: 2
First: 27/7/2012 Last: 31/7/2012 |
dear all , I am indeed moved emotionally for the crisis of emotion . the evolution self explicably conveys that the genetic mutation through molecular clock cycle every century is happening for better species adaptability to survive in the changing climatic atmosphere . hence ,reverting back is like not willing to wake up from sleep ,resulting in insecurity out of commotion when better genetically matured live sperm available . for peaceful life & to abide by evolutionary nature' s law. |
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Re: Should men father children after they’re dead?
posted at 31/7/2012 11:33 PM BST
on bmj.com
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Posts: 107
First: 13/3/2012 Last: 22/5/2013 |
The difference between sperm and organ donation after death is so obvious, it really does not need comment. Organs cannot exist without the recipient's body and thus are looked after, cared for, or not, by that recipient while the recipient is alive. Sleep, rest, diet, exercise, mental, emotional mindfulness and the body and the organs can co-exist reasonably well, if you don't count the drugs to combat rejections. Sperm donation on the other hand takes on a life of its own, to say the very least. If successful, the result of sperm donation is a child that needs at least 18 years of intensive care and support, in this case from much older grandparents, and then goes on to live, all being well, for another 70 years, never meeting its father, and at some point in time, knowing it was conceived in very, very unusual circumstances. It is not mentioned in the article why the young man died. Accident? Would have been tragic. Disease? Even more tragic in one so young. If it was a disease, would that be passed on in his sperm? Who knows? I can understand the grief of Jewish parents who were not blessed with a grandson, by their beloved son, but there are so many grandparents in this position. Doing this to avoid grief is being just a little selfish. Doing this to continue a family line is also selfish. Nature is being perverted in yet another way, this time, based completely in emotional blackmail. |
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Re: Should men father children after they’re dead?
posted at 31/7/2012 11:59 PM BST
on bmj.com
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Posts: 6
First: 14/11/2011 Last: 1/8/2012 |
Consent would need to be explicitly given by the sperm donor prior to their death, it's their genetic material and nobody else has right to use it without their permission (at least in the UK). This would hold especailly true for so selfish a purpose as desiring grandchildren, especially when they may never have existed given the relationship status of the individual mentioned in the example here. From an emotional perspective if it was a long-term spouse who shared an as yet unrealised joint desire for children with the deceased individual I can appreciate the tragedy of a premature death prior to conception, yet I feel prior consent should still be required in order to be ethically consistent with all other donation practices. Similar donation practices already occur with patients about to undergo procedures which will destroy their fertility such as chemotherapy. The donor consents for the eggs or sperm to be collected and stored prior to the procedure but not for the material to be used. They would still need to consent for these to be used if they later decided to conceive. |
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Re: Should men father children after they’re dead?
posted at 1/8/2012 12:08 AM BST
on bmj.com
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Posts: 6
First: 14/11/2011 Last: 1/8/2012 |
The question of heredity is an interesting one, I am unsure how this is legally defined in the UK or elsewhere, it would be interesting if anyone with knowledge of this area could comment as to how the law views heredity? Is it purely a genetic link (in which case the case mentioned here may pose an interesting conundrum) or is it more based on the last wishes of the deceased expressed through a will or other last testemony document? Clearly this is not an area for medicine to decide but society. |
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Re: Should men father children after they’re dead?
posted at 1/8/2012 12:08 AM BST
on bmj.com
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Posts: 6
First: 14/11/2011 Last: 1/8/2012 |
The question of heredity is an interesting one, I am unsure how this is legally defined in the UK or elsewhere, it would be interesting if anyone with knowledge of this area could comment as to how the law views heredity? Is it purely a genetic link (in which case the case mentioned here may pose an interesting conundrum) or is it more based on the last wishes of the deceased expressed through a will or other last testemony document? Clearly this is not an area for medicine to decide but society. |
Forums » Open clinical » Medical ethics » Should men father children after they’re dead?
