Associate Director Lauren Flicker Presented Two Talks on Reproductive Ethics “Life after Death? Navigating the (Lack of) Consent, Special Relationships, and Access to Gametes” American Society for Bioethics and Humanities Annual Conference in Baltimore, Maryland, October, 2023. When Peter Zhu, a 21 year old West Point cadet, was declared brain dead four days after a skiing accident, his parents honored his decision to be an organ donor, and made an additional request of their own. The grieving parents requested that his sperm be retrieved so that Peter could become a genetic parent. The hospital where Peter was being maintained did not have a policy on postmortem sperm retrieval (PMSR), and so deferred to a local court. Contrary to recommendations in the literature, the court, in an opinion authored by Judge John Colengano, made the decision to grant the family’s request to retrieve Peter’s sperm and to control its use. This presentation will discuss the ethical and legal implications of Judge Colangelo’s opinion, and argue for the creation of a legal paradigm delineating who may or may not request gametes in the absence of written instructions from the deceased. “Physician, Judge, or Family Decision - Considering the Appropriate Mechanism for Determining the Disposition of Gametes Retrieved Post-Mortem” Health Law Professors Conference, American Society of Law Medicine & Ethics, Baltimore, MD (June 7, 2023). In the more than forty years since postmortem sperm retrieval (PMSR) was first attempted, hospitals have sought to develop policies to address the many complex issues PMSR raises. Due to lack of regulation concerning PMSR in the United States, hospitals have little guidance concerning the legal classification of gametes retrieved postmortem, who may consent to their retrieval, or how they may be used once retrieved. This already complex issue is particularly challenging when the deceased has not previously given consent for PMSR. The majority of policies that exist require either explicit consent from an advanced care planning document, or that the requestor be the partner of the deceased. This paper will discuss the particular ethical challenges that are raised when the requestor for PMSR is not the partner of the deceased, and provide guidance for ethics consultants receiving such requests.
