title: Posthumous reproduction and palliative care.
abstract: Posthumous reproduction is an issue fraught with legal, ethical, religious, and moral debate. The involvement of the hospice and palliative care community in this debate may be peripheral due to the fact that other health care professionals would be actually delivering the services. However, the hospice and palliative care community are more likely to treat patients considering posthumous reproduction as they near the end of their lives. This article provides the hospice and palliative care community with a review of the medical, ethical, and legal considerations associated with posthumous reproduction. Having knowledge of these issues, and a list of available resources, will be useful if hospice and palliative care staff find themselves facing a patient or family that is considering posthumous reproduction.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Outcomes and Policy, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32610, USA. cak@ichp.ufl.edu
authors.forename: Caprice
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Knapp
authors.forename: Gwendolyn
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Quinn
authors.forename: Bethanne
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Bower
authors.forename: Laurie
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zoloth
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D010166:Palliative Care; D037022:Posthumous Conception / Q000941:ethics / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D027724:Reproductive Techniques, Assisted