Ben Jacobs // Contributor

Note: This is an article from the Capilano Courier published about two months ago
Original article: http://www.capilanocourier.com/2020/03/01/men-are-becoming-fathers-after-death/

Normally, if someone were to die with the request of donating body parts, they would think of donating their heart or kidneys.  However, there seems to be an interesting idea: when a man dies, he has his sperm donated to a sperm bank.

This could be an interesting experiment.  With man on his deathbed, his last request is to donate reproductive fluids for future purposes.  One life passes and another is given. However, there are several things that need to be addressed.

Of course, since this is a part of a human body, it would not be different than donating their heart or lungs in case of transplant surgery; so this would not be any different.  However, there are some things that need to be addressed. Since this would not be any different than donating a kidney, this process would need to follow the same ethics for organ donation.  With normal sperm donation, they would be able to have it requested. The new variable in this situation, however, is the donor’s death; so there’s going to be a slight difference between donating sperm while alive and donating after their death.  If someone donates their sperm while alive, all that’s needed is a request from the donor; while on the other hand, while dead, there might need to be some extra variable involved, such as the family of the donor. There also needs to be information on the donor’s health, as well as if the sperm is healthy.  Sperm can be considered a host for STDs, so it would need to be tested to see if any diseases are present.

Not only should the ethics of organ donation should be considering the anonymity of the donors.  Obviously, the child would not have been able to visit their biological parents because they’re… well… dead.  However, there is an interesting elephant in the room – how the child will find out about their biological family.  After all, like donating sperm when someone is alive, a person should have every right to know their biological family – it’s fair.  Without this kind of closure, it can give the children of these donors some sense of being lost. For example, a writer in Los Angeles Times tells her story about being the daughter of an anonymous sperm donor.  She talks about the aftermath of anonymous sperm donations from the child’s perspective.  “That lack of consideration is something I feel the consequences of every time… and every time I wonder what attributes of mine come from this anonymous man.” (Courtney McKinney, 2018).

Overall, this is not anything new or different in any medical practice, since this is just donating a part of a human body for science.  This practice does not seem like an inherently bad thing, people normally donate their organs when they die. However, since this is a bodily fluid that can produce life, it does not mean there will be no issues present with this regarding any child produced from these operations.