Publications
Partners
Two weeks ago, 17-year-old Hen Aida Ayish died in an Israeli hospital after an accident. She had no children. Well, not yet.
Not only did her parents agree to organ donations, they also asked for her eggs to be frozen. According to Haaretz.com, originally they had asked for the eggs to be fertilised with the sperm of another newly deceased person, but the hospital refused to do that without a judge’s permission.
The case has attracted international attention as it sets a precedent that could affect future similar decisions. Reports have drawn attention to a case in the United States, where permission was refused for the family to extract a dead woman’s ovaries. The grounds for the refusal was that she had not expressed a desire to become a mother.
Nor had Hen Aida Ayish, it seems.
Frozen sperm used after death
It would certainly not be the first time that a child had been conceived after a parent’s death. Frozen sperm from a dead partner has previously been used to conceive children. Courts seem to look favourably on women who want to conceive using their dead husband’s sperm - including a recent landmark case in Australia.
The judge is quoted by news.com.au as saying that the sperm could be released to the widow who 'is entitled to possession of it'.
In the case of American mother Karen Capato, there is also the matter of financial benefits from the state that she is requesting on behalf of her twins – conceived from frozen sperm after their father’s death. So far, her claims have been rejected.
As a judge in the Capato case said, it is: 'indeed, a new world'.
Who should be allowed to decide whether a dead person’s sperms or eggs should be used to conceive a child?
Not only did her parents agree to organ donations, they also asked for her eggs to be frozen. According to Haaretz.com, originally they had asked for the eggs to be fertilised with the sperm of another newly deceased person, but the hospital refused to do that without a judge’s permission.
The case has attracted international attention as it sets a precedent that could affect future similar decisions. Reports have drawn attention to a case in the United States, where permission was refused for the family to extract a dead woman’s ovaries. The grounds for the refusal was that she had not expressed a desire to become a mother.
Nor had Hen Aida Ayish, it seems.
Frozen sperm used after death
It would certainly not be the first time that a child had been conceived after a parent’s death. Frozen sperm from a dead partner has previously been used to conceive children. Courts seem to look favourably on women who want to conceive using their dead husband’s sperm - including a recent landmark case in Australia.
The judge is quoted by news.com.au as saying that the sperm could be released to the widow who 'is entitled to possession of it'.
In the case of American mother Karen Capato, there is also the matter of financial benefits from the state that she is requesting on behalf of her twins – conceived from frozen sperm after their father’s death. So far, her claims have been rejected.
As a judge in the Capato case said, it is: 'indeed, a new world'.
Who should be allowed to decide whether a dead person’s sperms or eggs should be used to conceive a child?
