Journal article

Posthumous conception by presumed consent. A pragmatic position for a rare but ethically challenging dilemma

Abstract:: The prevailing legal position and opinion of professional societies such as the European Society for Human Reproduction and Embryology and the American Society for Reproductive Medicine is that posthumous sperm conception should only occur in the presence of explicit written consent from the deceased man. However, in our opinion this is an impractical approach as the majority of deaths of reproductive-age men are sudden and unexpected, thereby precluding explicit consent. Previously in this journal we have outlined arguments supporting a move to a standard of presumed consent for posthumous conception, with provisions for men to ‘opt out’ and safeguards to protect the welfare of the prospective mother and her child. In a recent commentary in this journal, Kroon outlines arguments against our position of presumed consent as an unacceptable violation of the deceased's autonomy. However, such arguments on the primacy of the rights of the dead are in our opinion not paramount, especially since this position blocks access to posthumous conception for the majority who support its use. The objective of this commentary is to provide a rebuttal to the concerns raised by Kroon and hopefully reorientate the discussion towards the rights and welfare of the living (widow, prospective child), not the dead.

Publication status:: Published

Peer review status:: Peer reviewed

Actions

Email

Email this record

Send the bibliographic details of this record to your email address.

Your Email
Please enter the email address that the record information will be sent to.

-
Your message (optional)
Please add any additional information to be included within the email.
Share
Cite

Cite this record

APA Style

Tremellen, K., & Savulescu, J. (2016). Posthumous conception by presumed consent. A pragmatic position for a rare but ethically challenging dilemma. Reproductive Biomedicine & Society Online, 3, 26–29.

MLA Style

Tremellen, K., and J. Savulescu. “Posthumous Conception by Presumed Consent. A Pragmatic Position for a Rare but Ethically Challenging Dilemma.” Reproductive Biomedicine & Society Online, vol. 3, 2016, pp. 26–29.

Chicago Style

Tremellen, K., and J. Savulescu. 2016. “Posthumous Conception by Presumed Consent. A Pragmatic Position for a Rare but Ethically Challenging Dilemma.” Reproductive Biomedicine & Society Online 3: 26–29.
Print

Access Document

Files:: Tremellen and Savulescu, Posthumous conception by presumed con...

(Preview, Version of record, pdf, 221.0KB, Terms of use)

Publisher copy:: 10.1016/j.rbms.2016.11.001

Authors

+ Tremellen, K More by this author

Role:: Author

+ Savulescu, J More by this author

Institution:: University of Oxford
Division:: HUMS
Department:: Philosophy Faculty
Oxford college:: St Cross College
Role:: Author

Publisher:: Elsevier
Journal:: Reproductive Biomedicine & Society Online More from this journal
Volume:: 3
Pages:: 26-29
Publication date:: 2016-12-01
Acceptance date:: 2016-11-10
DOI:: 10.1016/j.rbms.2016.11.001
ISSN:: 2405-6618

Keywords:: sperm

autonomy

welfare

consent

posthumous conception

ethics
Pubs id:: pubs:689403
UUID:: uuid:1f0b1340-0cf3-4fc7-8651-ed4f51059aed
Local pid:: pubs:689403
Source identifiers:: 689403
Deposit date:: 2017-10-11
ARK identifier:: ark:/29072/ora_1f0b13400cf34fc78651ed4f51059aed

Terms of use

Copyright holder:: Tremellen and Savulescu
Copyright date:: 2016
Notes:: © 2016 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Licence:: CC Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (CC BY-NC-ND)

Views and Downloads

Views and downloads will return soon

If you are the owner of this record, you can report an update to it here: Report update to this record

TO TOP