Ethics
There are several ethical issues surrounding the extraction and use of gametes from cadavers or patients in a persistent vegetative state. The most debated are those concerning religion, consent, and the rights of the surviving partner and child if the procedure results in a birth.
A number of major religions view posthumous sperm retrieval in a negative light, including Roman Catholicism and Judaism. Roman Catholicism proscribes the procedure on much the same grounds as in vitro fertilisation, namely the rights of the unborn. Judaic strictures are based on the halakhic prohibition on deriving personal benefit from a corpse, and in the case of those in a persistent vegetative state, their categorisation as gosses (dying person) prohibits anyone from touching or moving them for anything that does not relate to their immediate care.
Consent of the donor is a further ethical barrier. Even in jurisdictions where implicit consent is not required, there are occasions in which clinicians have refused to perform the procedure on these grounds. If no proof of consent by the donor can be produced, implied consent, often in the form of prior actions, must be evident for clinicians to proceed with the extraction. Sperm retrieval is rarely carried out if there is evidence that the deceased clearly objected to the procedure prior to his death.
Finally, if the procedure is performed and results in a birth, there are several issues involving the legal rights of the child and its mother. Because posthumous insemination can take place months or even years after the father's death, it can in some cases be difficult to prove the paternity of the child. As such, inheritance and even the legal rights of the child to marry (due to the possibility of consanguinity between partners) can be affected. For this reason, several countries, including Israel and the United Kingdom, impose a maximum term for the use of extracted sperm, after which the father will not be legally recognised on the child's birth certificate.
Read more about this topic: Posthumous Sperm Retrieval
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