Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

Is posthumous semen retrieval ethically permissible?

R D Orr1, M Siegler

  • 1Fletcher Allen health Care/University of Vermont College of Medicine, Burlington, Vermont 05401, USA. robert.orr@vtmednet.org

Journal of Medical Ethics
|October 3, 2002
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Europa's ice thickness and subsurface structure characterized by the Juno microwave radiometer.

Nature astronomy·2026
Same author

Pharmacogenomics-Based Point-of-Care Clinical Decision Support Significantly Alters Drug Prescribing.

Clinical pharmacology and therapeutics·2017
Same author

Patient Perceptions of Care as Influenced by a Large Institutional Pharmacogenomic Implementation Program.

Clinical pharmacology and therapeutics·2016
Same author

Equipoise: ethical, scientific, and clinical trial design considerations for compatible pair participation in kidney exchange programs.

American journal of transplantation : official journal of the American Society of Transplantation and the American Society of Transplant Surgeons·2015
Same author

What and how psychiatry residents at ten training programs wish to learn about ethics.

Academic psychiatry : the journal of the American Association of Directors of Psychiatric Residency Training and the Association for Academic Psychiatry·2014
Same author

Clinical ethics teaching in psychiatric supervision.

Academic psychiatry : the journal of the American Association of Directors of Psychiatric Residency Training and the Association for Academic Psychiatry·2014
Same journal

Ethics briefing.

Journal of medical ethics·2026
Same journal

Medical ethics and categorisation.

Journal of medical ethics·2026
Same journal

Suspension or prioritisation? Exploring the ethics of age-based rationing in adult ADHD services.

Journal of medical ethics·2026
Same journal

Ethics of not knowing who we are talking to in qualitative research.

Journal of medical ethics·2026
Same journal

Suicide is not a public health issue and perhaps very few things should be.

Journal of medical ethics·2026
Same journal

Normalising transparency: an argument for requiring generative AI use declarations in all manuscripts-with a call for commentaries.

Journal of medical ethics·2026
See all related articles

Posthumous semen retrieval from deceased individuals is technically possible for reproductive purposes. However, ethical considerations regarding consent and child welfare mean such requests should generally be denied without clear evidence of the deceased

Area of Science:

  • Reproductive ethics
  • Medical ethics
  • Bioethics

Background:

  • Sperm retrieval from deceased or dying men is technically feasible for posthumous conception.
  • This practice raises significant ethical questions that require careful consideration.

Observation:

  • Two cases involving posthumous semen retrieval are presented for analysis.
  • These cases highlight the complexities surrounding consent and the treatment of deceased individuals.

Findings:

  • Technical feasibility does not equate to moral justification for posthumous semen retrieval.
  • Key ethical issues include informed consent, respect for the deceased, and the potential child's welfare.

Implications:

  • Requests for posthumous conception should be honored only with compelling evidence of the deceased's wishes.
Keywords:
Analytical ApproachGenetics and Reproduction

Related Experiment Videos

  • Even with consent, the long-term welfare of the child must be a primary consideration in all decisions.