Post Mortem Sperm Retrieval: Legal and Ethical Concerns Choudhury Semanti1, Arya Sujata2 1Student, Symbiosis Law School, Symbiosis International University, Pune, India 2Assistant Professor, Symbiosis Law School, Symbiosis International University, Pune, India Online published on 29 December, 2017. Abstract Purpose While several countries have explicitly prohibited Post Mortem Sperm Retrieval (PMSR), there are some countries which have allowed it on a case-by-case basis. This paper attempts to raise pertinent legal and ethical concerns regarding PMSR and urges the legislature to come up with guidelines addressing the same. Research Design/Methodology/Approach/Materials & methods/Experimental For this paper, the Researchers have adopted a doctrinal approach. They will be undertaking a comparative study of laws, policies and landmark judgments of other countries and analyse them in Indian context. Additionally, the Researchers will also rely on opinions by medical practitioners and guidelines issued by hospitals to support their arguments on ethical concerns of PMSR. Results & discussion/Findings &interpretation The Researchers have identified two key legal issues concerning PMSR: consent of the deceased (Ethics Committee ASRM, 2013) and rights of the yet un-conceived child Kindregan Jr., C.P., 2015). Is the deceased's consent necessary for PMSR? In the absence of consent of the deceased, can his wife unilaterally proceed with PMSR? In a rights based legal framework, where do we place the yet unconceived child? Research implications The issues raised in this paper will have a far reaching impact as the concept of PMSR gains popularity. It may even prompt the legislature to address the ethical and legal concerns of PMSR by issuing a formal guideline and initiate an in-depth study of the socio-cultural implication of PMSR Novelty/Originality PMSR is fairly novel concept in India and the legal concerns regarding it have not been yet addressed from an Indian context which this paper attempts to do. Top Keywords Post Mortem Sperm Retrieval (PMSR), Sperm extraction, Socio-cultural implications, Legal & Ethical concerns. Top |