Perimortem gamete retrieval:should we worry about consent?

Smajdor, Anna (2015) Perimortem gamete retrieval:should we worry about consent? Journal of Medical Ethics, 41. pp. 437-442. ISSN 0306-6800

Full text not available from this repository.

Abstract

Perimortem gamete retrieval has been a possibility for several decades. It involves the surgical extraction of gametes which can then be cryo-preserved and stored for future use. Usually, the request for perimortem gamete retrieval is made by the patient's partner after the patient himself, or herself, has lost the capacity to consent for the procedure. Perimortem gamete retrieval allows for the partner of a dead patient to pursue jointly held reproductive aspiration long after their loved one's death. But how can we know if the dying patient would have consented to gamete retrieval? In the UK, consent is a legal necessity for storing or using gametes-but this is not always enforced. Moreover, although the issues related to posthumous reproduction have been discussed at length in the literature, few commentators have addressed the specific question of retrieval. Gamete retrieval is an invasive and sensitive operation; as with any other intervention performed on the bodies of dead or dying patients, the nature and justification for this procedure needs to be carefully considered. In particular, it is important to question the idea that consent for such an intervention can be inferred solely from a person's known wishes or plans concerning reproduction.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Norwich Medical School
UEA Research Groups:	Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Groups > Public Health and Health Services Research (former - to 2023)
Depositing User:	Pure Connector
Date Deposited:	07 Oct 2014 12:24
Last Modified:	21 Oct 2022 00:11
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/50383
DOI:	10.1136/medethics-2013-101727

Actions (login required)

View Item