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Health and Sanity

Danielle Batist
Journopreneur
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piqer: Danielle Batist
Wednesday, 31 January 2018

The Ethics That Matter to A Dead Man’s Sperm

Whatever your views on this controversial topic, here’s a story that will most definitely have you think: “I can’t believe I am reading this”—and probably more than once.

It is a scientifically researched story on the ethics surrounding dead men’s sperm. Yes, you read that right. The sperm of someone who is no longer alive. In some countries, it gets collected. In order to create his babies, post-mortem.

If this wasn’t written and fact-checked by the fantastic Mosaic Science team, I would have probably stopped reading after one paragraph. But trusting the source, and the materials and studies I was reading about, I continued.

Every line made me question my prejudices I didn’t even know I had on this topic (I had never even considered its existence). Take this one law professor, who was quoted as saying:

In post-mortem sperm extraction, when we ask “What are sperm?” we’re also asking “What is life?” and “What is death?”

The story focuses – perhaps unsurprisingly – on America, where this practice is legal in some circumstances. Most other countries (including France, Germany, Sweden and Canada) prohibit it, while others, including the UK, only allow it after prior written consent. The piece makes clear that even having legal guidance leaves doctors struggling to interpret and enforce it.

All in all a fascinating, thought-provoking piece.

The Ethics That Matter to A Dead Man’s Sperm
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