Lawsuit for Return of Frozen Sperm of Son Who Died from Blood Cancer
Posthumous Fertilization Rare but Not Unheard Of
A couple in India won a legal battle after four years to retrieve their deceased son's frozen sperm.
On the 10th, the British BBC and others reported that the Delhi High Court ruled that the hospital must return the frozen sperm of a man in his 30s to his parents.
Preet Inder Singh, who was unmarried, battled blood cancer and passed away at the age of 30 in September 2020. Prior to this, following the hospital's advice to prepare for reduced fertility, he had his sperm frozen three months before starting chemotherapy.
After Singh's death, his parents wished to have grandchildren using the frozen sperm. However, the hospital refused, stating that the sperm could only be returned to a legal spouse, citing bioethical concerns and worries about the irresponsible birth of new life.
The parents then filed a lawsuit, leading to a legal dispute. The couple stated in court, "We will personally raise the child to be born." They also submitted a consent form to the court agreeing that after their death, their two daughters would take over the child's upbringing and responsibility.
Additionally, the couple's legal representative argued, "India's surrogacy laws are intended to prevent the commercial exploitation of surrogates, not to restrict the personal freedoms of grieving parents."
The judge ruled, "Under Indian law, if the sperm owner consents, posthumous conception cannot be prohibited," and added, "If the deceased has no spouse or children, the parents become the legal heirs and are therefore entitled to receive the sperm sample." Currently, one of the couple's relatives has agreed to become a surrogate.
BBC reported that some countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, and Japan allow posthumous conception with written consent, but many countries, including India, still prohibit it. However, it added that requests for such procedures have been increasing recently due to conflicts like the Israel-Palestine war and the Russia-Ukraine war. In Ukraine, it is known that soldiers' sperm is being frozen free of charge by the government.
Posthumous conception using a deceased person's sperm is rare but not unprecedented. In 2018, in India, a 48-year-old woman had a grandson through a surrogate using the sperm of her son who died of a brain tumor at age 27. In 2019, the New York Supreme Court permitted the parents of an army cadet who died in an accident to use his frozen sperm.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
