Is it Ethical for Doctors to harvest sperm from a dead male relative/spouse for someone else to have their own children?

Question

Although sperm procurement and preservation has been become commonplace in situations in which infertility can be easily foreseen, peri- or postmortem sperm procurement for reproductive use in unexpected coma or death is not generally accepted. Despite the distinguished title, the act of extracting a man's sperm from him after he has died poses a great ethical question, one that scientists have yet to answer unanimously.

Just because a man can make babies after death, does that entitle his family to create his child without him?

Cuteusernamehere · Accepted Answer

Seems strange to me and not something I'd ever do. I can see why someone would. Like if your husband died in an unexpected accident or something.

But I don't think the spouse is really in the right frame of mind at that time to make such decisions. It's psychological, wanting to still keep a part of the one you love and suddenly lost. I'm sure their not thinking how messed up that child will be knowing how they came about and robbed of their father. So ethnically I don't think it's right.

legally it's not much different than any other organ donation. Sperm is not a life yet and just another piece of body tissue. If my hubby where to die I could sign consent to donate his heart or liver to prolong another life without his say in it unless he had specific wishes on a legal document against it.

estoydorado1 · Accepted Answer

Only with prior consent. You can literally clone someone with the right cells. Children are like halfway clones of their parents & that's really shady of someone to basically steal someones' children. It's also morbid to steal it from a corpse.

I think they should follow the same guidelines as with organ donors or people who donate themselves to science, etc.. If people have voiced a willingness to donate their bodies to help others in a certain manner, they should be able to have that wish fulfilled but you can't just go picking the corpse apart.

AditiSaasha · Accepted Answer

A more deeper thought would be to understand that the kid is a son/daughter of a dead guy and he or she might have the full legal rights to take over the property, belongings and debt of the deceased

But am not sure if the sperms would be alive or the testicles continue to provide sperms after death. Need to check that out.

Bjorn526 · Accepted Answer

A friend of mine died while recently married, in a car accident, and his wife did that. She had that done, preserved his sperm, I guess they live for enough time to enable that to happen, though don’t know how long, usually it’s offered during life support.
What i do know is his parents were against it.
I think she was just so traumatized that it was her way of dealing with the finality of it.
I’m pretty sure she never followed through but don’t know.
It just seems really sad and weird

chris1984 · Accepted Answer

not to me. this denies the deceased the right to refuse. now obviously the debate then hinges around the rights of a dead person, and they are fundamentally respect based. so the question is, do we respect the rights of a dead person more than the wishes of that persons family to reproduce after death?

smokeandberry · Answer

It's just like organ donation, if they've consented to it in writing then sure. Otherwise, leave the poor guy alone.

JulieXO · Answer

Harvesting sperm from a corpse seems really damn weird to me

Espolare2000 · Answer

Not without consent

DollySummers · Answer

Yes. To preserve the human race.

JFilmore · Answer

That's odd even with the man's consent. Imagine some medical professionals playing with a corpse's privates. It's sacrilege. But I suppose ethics is subjective these days.
"Is it alright if we siphon your sperm when you're dead"
"Yeah sure why not"

cinderelli · Answer

I'm not sure if you can do it after death but assuming its possible.. I think it can be done if the guy has consented to it when he was alive.. just like you do when you wanna donate your organs after death.. but I also think it's fine in case of spouse because part of him gets to live through the kid and it can be a source of come contentment and peace for the wife and the guy's parents.

Pocahontas2000 · Answer

I love the idea because If my future husband died early without us having a kid, I would want to have his kid even after his death.

rgb008 · Answer

Only if its in his dying declaration or in a will or something. Other than that, I dont think its ethical.

MackToday · Answer

I don't see the problem with it, he's cold and in the grave. Also it's very useful if the man had genetic characteristics like high IQ or was gifted in some other way.

Maria317 · Answer

Hey there’s organ program so why not.

bloodmountain1990 · Answer

Only if one consented, just like with organ donors.

KiaTate · Answer

Only if the man consented to it before death.

Nora_Sutherlin · Answer

Just like we can donate our organs after death by our consent, i believe if the said person gives "his consent" to use his sperms after death, i don't see any problem with it.