For years, the Israeli government has allowed for widows to request posthumous sperm retrieval from fallen soldiers in the Israeli Defense Force. As The Times of Israel explains:
Sperm must be retrieved within 24 hours after death to increase its chances of viability when it is later unfrozen and used to fertilize an egg. However, experts say that PSR can be performed even several days after death when sperm is no longer motile.
“We look for and prefer sperm that are moving. But even sperm that is not motile does not mean that it is not alive. We know how to make it move after it is unfrozen,” said Dr. Yuval Or, head of the IVF unit at Kaplan Medical Center.
Given recent events, the nation’s Health Ministry has lifted some of the additional restrictions around this process, allowing for parents to request their childrens’ sperm, even if they were civilians rather than soldiers, without the need for an explicit order from a family court.
Science!
Health Ministry cuts red tape for sperm retrieval from sons killed in war [Renee Ghert-Zand]
