Abstract

This chapter summarizes and weighs ethical issues surrounding posthumous gamete or embryo use while proposing guidelines and suggestions for how clinicians involved in assisted reproduction can best respect the rights of the deceased and surviving loved ones when the issue of posthumous reproduction is raised. The chapter covers scenarios including when the deceased’s wishes are known regarding previously cryopreserved gametes or embryos, when wishes are unknown regarding previously cryopreserved embryos, when wishes are unknown regarding previously cryopreserved gametes, and when no gametes or embryos have been previously cryopreserved. There are many ethical challenges related to the use of posthumous gametes and embryos for procreation, both when they are already cryopreserved and when retrieval is necessary. For reproductive tissue already frozen, much consternation on the part of the physician and the surviving partner can be alleviated by having clearly delineated consent forms that include use of gametes after the death of one or both partners. While the presence of cryostored gametes or embryos shows that a parental project existed, it does not definitively demonstrate that the deceased accepted the continuation of the project after their death, and while perhaps ethically permissible providers should proceed with great caution.