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The Debate Over Extracting Sperm From Terminally Ill or Recently Deceased Patients

Posted by Frances Shani Parker on November 16, 2009 at 8:48am
Requests for extracting sperm from terminally ill or recently deceased patients continue to increase due to the success and acceptance of techniques that assist reproduction such as in vitro fertilization. These requests are accompanied by several concerns regarding legal, ethical, and financial issues. Two areas of controversy involve consent for the retrieval of sperm and the validity of family consent. Some form of medical protocol is needed to resolve this ongoing controversy. Some feel that men themselves, particularly those about to get married or enter into a similar relationship, can resolve problems related to consent by addressing retrieval of their sperm in advance in the same way a living will is handled. By documenting their wishes before a need occurs, sperm retrieval can take place during the terminal illness or recently after death. Some say extracting sperm under any circumstances is unethical. What do you think? This research by the University of Maryland Medical Center examines sperm retrieval from terminally ill or recently deceased patients: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19497168 Frances Shani Parker, Author "Becoming Dead Right: A Hospice Volunteer in Urban Nursing Homes” “Hospice and Nursing Homes Blog”

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  • brittany bennett October 13, 2010 at 6:12pm
    Wow seems ok but kid won`t have a dad. Think of future.
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