RT Article
T1 SPERM HARVESTING AND POSTMORTEM FATHERHOOD
JF Bioethics
VO 9
IS 4
SP 380
OP 398
A1 Murphy, Timothy F.
LA English
YR 1995
UL https://ixtheo.de/Record/1781876142
AB The motives and consequences of harvesting sperm from brain dead males for the purpose of effecting post mortem fatherhood are examined. I argue that sperm harvesting and post mortem fatherhood raise no harms of a magnitude that would justify forbidding the practice outright. Dead men are not obviously harmed by the practice; children need not be harmed by this kind of birth; and the practice enlarges rather than diminishes the reproductive choices of surviving partners. Certain ethical and legal issues nevertheless require attention. As a matter of consistency with other harvesting protocols, there ought to be a mechanism for respecting the wishes of men who when alive do not wish to become fathers post mortem. Mechanisms governing entitlement to harvest and use sperm will also be required. I note that the law is unlikely to recognize the paternity of children born from harvested sperm, though there may be reasons to recognize that paternity in some instances.
DO 10.1111/j.1467-8519.1995.tb00313.x