Desperate for a “small piece” of their son that might live on, U.S. Military Academy cadet Peter Zhu’s parents have been granted the chance to have a grandchild using their dead son’s sperm.
This will be the 2nd post-mortem sperm retrieval to create offspring posthumously in the world.
Peter Zhu, 21, passed away in a skiing accident in February but his parents have won a case to make a grandchild extracted from sperms of their deceased for their son to live on.
In Chinese culture, only a male heir can carry on the last name.
Monica and Youngmin Zhu told the court that they had wanted to retrieve their son’s sperm because they say he always wanted a large family and that passing down his lineage is important to his culture.
“Our son’s dying wish was to become a father and to bring children into this world,” his parents said.
Before his accident, cadet Peter Zhu decided that he wanted to become an organ donor, and specified that on his California driver’s license. The family asserts in its appeal to the court that Peter also wanted a family.
The case is sparking fresh ethical and moral questions about the post-mortem retrieval — and use — of human sperm, or eggs.
While Zhu is said to have always wanted a child of his own, it is less clear whether he would have wanted his parents to create his offspring posthumously.
It is also a gamble to know if the parents will find a doctor willing to perform the procedure and a woman willing to be an egg donor or surrogate.
The first known baby born from post-mortem sperm extraction was delivered in 1999 when Gaby Vernoff gave birth to a daughter in a Los Angeles hospital using frozen sperm that had been retrieved from her dead husband 15 months earlier.
In Canada, post-mortem sperm retrieval can only happen with the deceased’s prior written consent.
Under Canada’s Assisted Human Reproduction Act, before “human reproductive material” is removed from a dead body, there must exist a document signed by the “donor” authorizing the use of his or her gametes for the purpose of creating an embryo.
The donor’s surviving spouse or common-law partner can use the material.
The family here was not clear on how Zhu’s sperm will be used.
Here is a video of Sperm Retrieval Procedures For Conception: