Some families of Israeli soldiers killed in war are engaging in the controversial practice of harvesting the deceased soldiers’ sperm in hopes of allowing them to achieve fatherhood after death. Veuer’s Matt Hoffman reports.
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00:00The families of some Israeli soldiers killed in war are grieving in an unusual way,
00:04by harvesting the deceased soldier's sperm in hopes of allowing them to achieve fatherhood after death.
00:10The BBC reports that the process involves removing tissue from the dead man's testicle,
00:15extracting sperm cells and freezing them.
00:17The IDF proactively offers this service,
00:20but it's a controversial practice which legally requires proof that the deceased wanted to have children.
00:25The BBC says it also presents a conflict between two priorities in Jewish law,
00:30continuing a bloodline and respecting the physical sanctity of the dead.
00:34A recent study published in the journal Andrology questioned 600 Israeli men on the subject
00:39and found that 47% of them opposed the procedure happening at their parents' request,
00:43while 37% opposed it even at the request of a romantic partner.
00:47And the New York Times points out that the specialized nature of the procedure
00:51presents a contrast with the decimated state of the Gaza health system.
00:55In fact, Reuters reports that in December an Israeli shell damaged five nitrogen tanks
00:59at Gaza's largest fertility clinic, destroying over 4,000 embryos
01:04and thereby preventing many Palestinian couples from having children.