How ethical is it to use sperm from the dead?

April 11, 11:30 AMIndependent ExaminerBrian Trent

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Two very recent cases in the news remind us why we need clear-thinking minds as we move into the future.

In Dallas, the mother of a 21-year-old who died as a result of a fight in March (he died on April 5 from his injuries) has harvested his sperm cells, in the hopes of eventually seeing her son have children. She has stated that her son, Nikolas Colton Evans, had expressed his desire to procreate... but death had seemingly thwarted this plan.

"Death" is no longer what it used to be.

After Evans' mother received permission from the court on April 7, her son's body was chilled to 39.2 degrees so that the sperm could remain viable and be extracted.

She said that this is in keeping with his wishes.

"My son wanted to graduate from college. He wanted to have children. And someone took that away from him."

The timing of the Evans case coincides with this week's announcement that sperm frozen for 22 years had been used to conceive a child born on April 10. The father, Chris Biblis, was battling leukemia when he was 16 at the time he had his sperm frozen, and today has seen the wisdom of that move in the very real, living, breathing child he now holds.

I am very interested in seeing how the public reacts to these cases, as they may shed light on how we react to deeper ethical issues like cloning, genetic engineering, and even the possibility that frozen individuals (per the promise of cryonics) may be ressurected after death.

Indeed, what if medical science advances to the point where aging, sickness and death are entirely optional?