Visit our website:
http://www.france24.com
Like us on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/FRANCE24.English
Follow us on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/France24_en
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00This is our son. As you see, he was always smiling. Always with his smile.
00:10Omri Ram was 28 years old when he was murdered trying to flee Israel's Nova music festival
00:16on October the 7th. His parents are still in mourning for their surf-loving son.
00:22But they've also found a glimmer of hope.
00:25What we have in mind is someday to have a granddaughter,
00:36to take her to surf on his surfboard at the ocean.
00:42And we believe that we will be able to do that someday.
00:46Menashe and Merav Ram hoped to let their son's legacy live on
00:56by using his sperm extracted in the hours after his body was recovered.
01:16I am a Jew. After the Holocaust, I don't want to give up. I want to continue living my life.
01:24The fact that we have the opportunity to continue to grow, to get stronger and to bring children
01:31from those who are not here, is a victory for us as the State of Israel and for us as a family
01:39and also for those who are not here. Also for them.
01:44Posthumous sperm retrieval became legal in Israel in 2003 but was extremely rare.
01:50While major legal and ethical questions remain,
01:52leading medics in the field tell us demand has soared since October the 7th.
01:57Since the war started, it gave a huge wind for the whole process.
02:02The army started to let the families know about the option.
02:07So quite a lot of soldiers that died, we do the sperm retrieval upon the request.
02:13Israel is a leading country in the whole issue of IVF and reproduction.
02:18So doing it after death, I think this is another step in the process.
02:24Overall, Israel is a fertility powerhouse. It's a huge sector here.
02:29Israel performs the most IVF treatments in the world per capita, more than 50,000 a year.
02:35The government funds limitless cycles for some women up to age 45
02:40and it's permitted with imported donor eggs up to age 57.
02:45Egg freezing is very common.
02:48The pressure from the public is very, very serious because people,
02:53and especially women, want to have families.
02:56In Israel, the social laws are more flexible and because of the public demand,
03:04the authorities, the government, help them to have at least two children.
03:09We help them to do whatever we can.
03:13Demographics have long been an existential question in Israel,
03:16which has the highest birth rate of any developed country in the world,
03:20more than three children per woman, over six in Orthodox Jewish communities.
03:26And with many people in Israel currently feeling under threat,
03:29continuity and survival are again coming to the fore.