Recent years have borne witness to 2 ongoing, interrelated phenomena: an oft-publicized decline in male fertility and mounting interest in sperm cryopreservation.1 With heavier utilization of sperm freezing and banking services, a slew of scarcely explored legal-ethical issues rise to the forefront. Chief among these is the question of posthumous conception: what happens to frozen sperm after its donor has died? This is no mere academic point; it implicates parenthood, bodily autonomy, a partner's grieving process, estate distribution, and entitlement to Social Security benefits, among myriad others.
Recent years have borne witness to 2 ongoing, interrelated phenomena: an oft-publicized decline in male fertility and mounting interest in sperm cryopreservation.1 With heavier utilization of sperm freezing and banking services, a slew of scarcely explored legal-ethical issues rise to the forefront. Chief among these is the question of posthumous conception: what happens to frozen sperm after its donor has died? This is no mere academic point; it implicates parenthood, bodily autonomy, a partner's grieving process, estate distribution, and entitlement to Social Security benefits, among myriad others.
