Should Parents of the Deceased Have Standing to Initiate Posthumous Sperm Retrieval? Analyzing Developments in Israel
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 17536182 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Roee Amir, Vardit Ravitsky (0000-0002-7080-8801) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 56 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 6-13 |
| Publication date | 2026-03-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Hastings Center Report (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0093-0334 • E-ISSN: 1552-146X |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1002/hast.4984 |
| PMID | 41840782 |
| OpenAlex | W7138230490 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 37 |
Posthumous sperm retrieval is a complex and contentious issue that raises various ethical, legal, and social concerns. Policies regulating this practice vary globally, reflecting diverse normative approaches and cultural values. Israel, which had a permissive stance on the matter even before the October 7 attack, has seen a significant shift in policy since the attack and subsequent war, now allowing sperm retrieval based on parental request. This development, partly driven by a desire to honor fallen soldiers, adds new complexity to the ethical discourse. This paper uses Israel's policy shift as a starting point to explore whether parents of the deceased should be granted a right to initiate the procedure, particularly in the context of war and national loss. The discussion navigates a web of competing interests and narratives that require careful untangling, including the deceased's autonomy and bodily integrity, the relatives' desire for genetic continuity, the potential for conflict between relatives with opposing wishes, the welfare of potential offspring, and broader societal implications with special attention to the tension between honoring sacrifice and respecting individual reproductive choices
Autonomy · Context (archaeology) · Honor · Narrative · Normative · Politics · Sacrifice · Sperm donation · Grief, Bereavement, and Mental Health · Reproductive Biology and Fertility · Reproductive Health and Technologies
The Oxford Handbook of Intergenerational Ethics
The Theory of Morality
Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals
Parent-initiated posthumous-assisted reproduction revisited in light of the interest in genetic origins
Navigating conflicts of reproductive rights
The Defective Character Solution to the Non-identity Problem
Presuming consent in the ethics of posthumous sperm procurement and conception
I. The Identity Problem
Understanding posthumous sperm retrieval during war through a terror management theory perspective
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |