Most people across the globe have this obsession with continuing their bloodline. The situation is no different in India, which also explains why people are desperate for sons. Even after having four kids (read daughters), they still try for another one because they want someone with a sperm so that the lineage can be continued “unadulterated”.
But, what if the son dies? You raise your son aspiring to be grandparents someday but one day, he just passes away and your hopes are shattered. In such a case, can you demand his semen sample to continue the bloodline?
Semen Of A Deceased Man – Whose Property?
A Delhi-based family filed a case in the Delhi High court when Ganga Ram Hospital refused to give them the semen sample of their deceased 30-year-old unmarried son who died of cancer. The hospital opposed by saying that there’s no law or policy in the country to decide who has the legal right over it.
The family froze the patient’s sperm sample when the doctors informed them that the chemotherapy may make him infertile. But now, they are unable to retrieve it from the hospital authorities due to the absence of any clear law on it.
In 2005, the Calcutta High Court ruled that only the man’s widow has a right to his semen after he dies. In regard to this, the Calcutta HC dismissed the plea of the father of a deceased man last year who demanded the semen sample of his married son.
So there’s clarity on who should get it in case the man was married before his death but not when he was unmarried.
Read More: Why Has Surrogacy Become So Popular Yet Controversial In India Lately?
Dilemma
It is parents who decide if the organs of the man should be donated or not. They are the immediate family of the deceased and it should only seem logical for them to get it. There, however, have been arguments over how moral this practice is.
You are essentially creating a new life out of a dead person’s body fluid without their consent. What if they never wanted to have kids in their life? Even if they did, what right does it give others to use their sperm? It’s a moral maze whose exit depends on the High Court’s ruling.
Disclaimer: This article is fact-checked
Image Sources: Google Images
Sources: Hindustan Times, Indian Express, Times of India
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This post is tagged under: semen, sperm, unmarried deceased man, dead man, biological kid, bloodline, heir, family, parents, wife, widow, son, daughter, test tube baby, insemination, conceive, surrogacy, adoption, baby, obsession with kids, lineage, right over semen sample, delhi high court, moral dilemma
