--- title: "Israel Extracting Sperm From Dead Soldiers and Using It to Create Children" description: "The families of fallen Israeli soldiers are having the dead's sperm harvested, with the hope of that it will one day be used to father a child." date: "2022-07-20" modified: "2022-07-20" authors: - name: "Maggie Harrison Dupré" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison" url: "https://futurism.com/neoscope/israel-extracting-sperm-dead-soldiers" categories: - "Developments" - "Health & Medicine" tags: - "children" - "Israel" - "military" - "sperm" --- # Israel Extracting Sperm From Dead Soldiers and Using It to Create Children ![The families of fallen Israeli soldiers are having the dead's sperm harvested, with the hope of that it will one day be used to father a child.]() *\Image: Getty Images/Futurism\* A bizarre trend is taking hold in Israel: the families of fallen soldiers are having their deceased loved ones' sperm harvested, with the hope of that one day the extracted sperm will be used to father a child. According [to *Bloomberg*](), a few dozen children have already been born this way. But there are reportedly hundreds of Israeli women volunteering to carry, and in some cases even help mother, these kids. And the Middle Eastern state's parliament [passed preliminary legislation]() supporting the practice back in March, paving the way for an even more widespread phenomenon. "We may eventually expand this to the rest of society, but we are starting with the military, because we take people 18 to 21 and we say: 'You have to serve your country by law. If something happens to you, we take good care of you, and if you die, we take good care of your parents and children,'" Zvi Hauser, Israeli parliament member and the bill's sponsor, told *Bloomberg*. "'We now have the technology so that if you don’t have a child and want to leave one, we can give that to your wife or parents.'" Some countries have [outlawed similar procedures](), while US regulation [varies between states](). But as *Bloomberg* reports, most US frameworks for similar procedures are reserved for widows, [not usually]() the dead men's parents. In Israel, by contrast, it's the parents of these young men that are fighting for their right to have grandchildren, which has some folks raising their eyebrows. "It is in a child's best interests to be born to living parents and not in a state of planned orphanhood," Gil Siegal, head of the Center for Medical Law, Bioethics, and Health Policy at Israel's Ono Academic College, told *Bloomberg*. "My heart goes out to bereaved parents, but the discourse around fertility and birth must start with mother-father-child, not grandmother-grandfather-child." "When you retrieve sperm from a dead man, you are trying to restore something lost under tragic circumstances," he continued. "It's like erecting a living monument." *Bloomberg* reports that like related US laws, Hauser's bill takes the dead men's wishes into consideration — all new male military recruits have to stipulate what they'd like to have happen with their sperm in the event that they die in service. Still, the life most impacted by such a choice isn't the man's, nor is it that of the surrogate, partner, or even the grandparents. It's that of the child, and while the Israeli government provides financial support to already-living children of soldiers killed on duty, it doesn't look like they intend to do the same for postmortem babies. "The existing stipend is for lost income from the father," Hauser, whose bill actively denies government assistance, explained to *Bloomberg*. "When a soldier dies and leaves a child, the state is saying to that child, 'I hurt you, I took your father, and I am compensating you for the loss.' This is different. The child didn’t exist." **READ MORE:** [*Postmortem Sperm Retrieval Is Turning Dead Men Into Fathers*]() \[*Bloomberg*\] **More on questionable child-rearing:** [*Professors Warn That Creeps Might Start Stealing Dna from Celebs for Dark Purposes* ]() ## Author At Futurism, I've reported extensively on the rise of AI as a cultural and business force shaping the media industry, and more broadly how those dynamics are changing how we all consume and share information and relate to one another. I'm also fascinated by public health policy and ethics, the role of emerging tech in politics and governance — and the powerful people and forces at those intersections — climate change, and the environment. My investigation on Sports Illustrated's use of AI-generated authors with fictional biographies won a 2024 Mirror Award for "Best Story on Media Coverage of Artificial Intelligence in Journalism and the Media" from Syracuse University's SI Newhouse School, I contributed to Niemen Lab's 2025 Predictions for Journalism series, and I've discussed my work for Futurism during appearances on NPR, CNN, the BBC, the CBC, and more. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania and attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I played Division I field hockey for the Minutewomen as a midfielder. Since then, I've lived in New Orleans, Louisiana and Manhattan, New York. I spend my free time running, reading, perusing archival fashion, and searching for the world’s best negroni. I also have a debonair tuxedo cat, Westley, who's named after "The Princess Bride." ### Author social links [Bluesky]()