Court Decision on Posthumous Reproduction
In October 2024, the Delhi High Court allowed the parents of a deceased man to use his frozen semen for posthumous reproduction.
The man had preserved his semen before dying in 2020 after undergoing chemotherapy. The parents approached the hospital, which refused to release the semen without court approval.
The case raised complex legal questions, as the ART (Assisted Reproductive Technology) Act does not explicitly address posthumous semen usage, especially in unmarried individuals.
Existing Legal Gaps
The ART Act and Surrogacy Act, 2022, cover fertility, gamete donation, and surrogacy but do not specifically address posthumous conception or unmarried individuals.
The High Court emphasized that the deceased man had explicitly consented to the use of his sperm, but the law does not clearly define such scenarios.
International Legal Precedents
The Court considered international cases like Doodeward v. Spence and Yearworth v. North Bristol NHS Trust, which dealt with the ownership of human biological material after death.
The ruling categorized semen as "property" of the deceased, which raises debates about the commodification of human tissue and its potential ethical and societal implications.
Need for Clear Guidelines
The lack of clear legal frameworks surrounding posthumous reproduction, especially in cases of unmarried individuals and the use of reproductive material by family members, highlights the need for updated laws.
While the parents' desire to continue their deceased son’s legacy is acknowledged, ethical issues arise, including the potential commodification of human genetic material and the questions surrounding parentage and rights of the child born through surrogacy.
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