Grandparents make custom grandson with dead son sperm

A case that could have been pinned from an episode of "Black Mirror" happened in the United Kingdom, when a motorcycle accident killed the only child of a British couple, a 26-year-old boy who was single and childless.

The body was apparently only found 2 days after the accident; so it is unclear how the boy's parents came up with the unusual idea and, one might say, a good deal of boldness and insight to act. Within 24 hours, they were able to find trained professionals to remove and preserve sperm from their child's body, even though this procedure is considered illegal in their country.

A breath of life that was hanging by a thread

It is well known that sperm can stay alive for up to 72 hours in an inert body, and therefore, even with the accident occurring 48 hours ago, they managed to save their child's leftover life.

The entire procedure, from extraction, storage and shipping of the material to the clinic, was done in violation of the law. The United Kingdom prohibits and punishes unauthorized sperm extraction.

Given this, the authorities say they do not know how the couple, in their 50s and about which there is little information, would have convinced professionals who performed the extraction, storage and transfer to commit infractions of this size, at the risk of suffer the criminal consequences. It is known, however, that they are in excellent financial condition and that the whole process would have cost from £ 60, 000 to £ 100, 000.

After sperm had been removed, the material was immediately frozen and, only after 1 year, sent by a medical courier service to the United States to a specialized IVF clinic located in San Diego, California.

According to a report to the British Daily Mail by the doctor responsible for fertilization, the couple's request was clear: the intention was to produce a male grandson, and both were very specific in the criteria for choosing the egg donor and surrogate. The woman should have a physical and intellectual profile compatible with what, in her eyes, corresponded to the possible choice of her child when she married.

The couple went to Dr. David Smotrich's clinic, a highly skilled professional recognized worldwide for this type of embryo gender selection technique, a practice that is also vetoed in the United Kingdom.

"Producing a baby with postmortem sperm is extremely rare, I've only done it five times, " the doctor told the same newspaper, adding that he was aware that the boy had not written any consent to the procedure.

The moral and ethical balance of the case

The child was born in 2015 and is now around 3 years old. The parents / grandparents had been present since the baby was ordered, and would not have returned to the UK until the paperwork had been fully officially granted, giving them legal rights as parents of the child. However, the fact is that those responsible for the act may now have to face the courts.

While postmortem extraction in the UK without consent is strictly illegal in the UK, parents categorically assert that this was a genuine wish of their child. There is also the whole emotional charge of hope renewing within the family, a component that is difficult to judge and understand from outside history.

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