Posthumous Reproduction and the Rights of the Deceased

Abstract

Posthumous reproduction -- the retrieval and use of gametes or the transfer of embryos after the death of one intended parent -- raises questions that ordinary bioethical frameworks for consent were not designed to answer. This review surveys the clinical and ethical debate over whether meaningful consent to posthumous parenthood is possible without an explicit prior directive, including the competing arguments for and against a presumption of consent in its absence. It then examines how legal systems in the United States, United Kingdom, and Israel have handled the resulting questions of parentage and inheritance, a body of law that has developed unevenly and largely in reaction to individual court cases rather than through deliberate policymaking. Comparative and religious perspectives, particularly the rapid expansion of practice in Israel, illustrate how cultural assumptions about family and lineage shape what counts as an acceptable basis for proceeding. We conclude that explicit advance consent remains the least ethically contested basis for posthumous reproduction, and that the range of institutional and legal safeguards developed in its absence reflects an ongoing effort to manage a decision that ideally would involve the person most affected.