Court allows mother to collect dead son’s sperm

This story just disturbed me, in a number of ways.

The story in a nutshell: Nik Evans died after a bar fight (he fell and hit his head).  His mother wants to carry out his wish of having children someday (according to her, he wanted three kids).  So before he’s taken off life support, she wanted to collect some of his sperm to carry out this wish.  Judge Guy Herman says yes.

This is a horrible story, and the mother is rightly grieving.  But keeping her son’s sperm so she can “keep a piece of him” isn’t the way to honor him.

There’s a bioethics expert from the University of Texas who says Texas state law gives parents control over a child’s body, but sperm isn’t clearly called out.  The problem here is that Evans wasn’t a child – he was 21, an adult for at least three years.  At want point do a parent’s right to the body of a child end?  Not having read the Texas law, I don’t know, and the article doesn’t mention it.

As an adoptive father and a supporter of zero population growth, I’m really disturbed that there are people out there collecting sperm from dead people to make more human beings.  We have plenty as it is - roughly 6.7 billion right now and counting – and we can’t keep them all fed and housed and clothed.  We don’t need more.

Texas judge allows collection of dead son's sperm