An Australian woman, aged 62, has managed to collect sperm from her deceased husband after convincing the court that they had been considering having a child before his passing. The couple began contemplating having another child following the tragic loss of their 31-year-old son in a car accident in 2019, according to legal documents released on Wednesday. Six years prior to that, their 29-year-old daughter drowned during a fishing trip.
Due to these two devastating incidents, the couple started exploring the possibility of using the sperm from the husband, who was 61 at the time, for in vitro fertilization. After the husband passed away at home on December 17, the wife—whose name cannot be disclosed for legal reasons—requested the hospital morgue to collect and store his sperm. However, the hospital delayed the request, according to legal documents, prompting the woman to seek an urgent order from the Supreme Court of Western Australia.
Researchers state that the ideal time frame for collecting reproductive tissue is within one or two days of death. Judge Fiona Seward permitted the collection and storage of the sperm but indicated that separate court orders would be necessary before it could be used for fertilization. The order was issued on December 21 but was only made public recently.
While this scenario is unusual, it is not surprising to collect sperm from deceased partners in Australia. In June 2023, an Australian woman was granted permission to retrieve sperm from her 29-year-old husband, who reportedly died after severing an artery on a broken window.
