title: Procreation after death or mental incompetence: medical advance or technology gone awry?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To review our experience with semen retrieval in men who are incompetent or dead and to formulate general medical, legal, and ethical guidelines for practitioners.
  
  
  METHODS
  Case series and literature review.
  
  
  METHODS
  Academic.
  
  
  METHODS
  Seven incompetent or neurologically dead individuals in whom sperm retrieval was requested.
  
  
  METHODS
  Electroejaculation.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Seminal emission was induced in the two men who underwent electroejaculation. Sperm suitable for cryopreservation was obtained in one of these men. Review of the legal and ethical implications of such procedures led to development of general guidelines for determining whether gamete retrieval should be performed when requested. Issues of procreational autonomy, consideration of the decedent's wishes, and assurance of the well-being of any new life created were considered most strongly in the formation of these guidelines.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although the retrieval of sperm from deceased or incompetent individuals may be achieved readily, it is incumbent upon the practitioner to consider the legal and moral implications of these procedures before proceeding.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, USA. DANA.OHL@UMICH.EDU
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Ohl
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cohen
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Goodman
authors.forename: A C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Menge
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001927:Brain Diseases; D003643:Death; D004542:Ejaculation; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D004992:Ethics, Medical; D006801:Humans; D007603:Jurisprudence; D008297:Male; D016743:Mental Competency; D028681:Moral Obligations; D037022:Posthumous Conception; D012098:Reproduction; D013094:Spermatozoa