World · Middle East · 7 hrs ago
Israeli mother wins approval to use her dead son’s sperm
Maor Eizenkot was an Israeli soldier killed in Gaza in 2023.
After his death, his mother, Sharon, agreed to have sperm retrieved from his body within a 72-hour window when it could still be viable.
She later asked a court to approve using it to have a woman of her choice carry his child.
Last July, the court approved her request, accepting testimony that Maor had wanted to become a father, although he had not recorded that wish in writing.
Sharon has since chosen a woman from hundreds who volunteered, and the pregnancy is expected soon.
In Israel, the practice has become more common since the Hamas attack and Israel’s invasion of Gaza in October 2023, with four hospitals storing sperm from about 250 soldiers.
The issue matters to families seeking descendants after a soldier’s death, and Israel has eased the rules so prior court approval is no longer generally required.
Sharon Eizenkot received court approval for a woman of her choosing to be inseminated with sperm retrieved from her son Maor after his death.
Maor died in 2023 while serving as an Israeli soldier in Gaza.
Eizenkot consented to sperm retrieval within the 72-hour window after his death.
The court accepted oral testimony that Maor wanted to become a father, although he had not recorded that wish in writing.
Eizenkot has chosen a woman from among hundreds who volunteered to become a mother using Maor’s sperm.
- Who
- Sharon Eizenkot, whose son Maor died in military service, sought the approval.
- What
- A court approved her request for a woman of her choosing to be inseminated with her son’s sperm.
- When
- The approval came last July, according to the article.
- Where
- Israel. Maor died in Gaza, and Eizenkot lives in Eilat.
- Why
- Eizenkot sought to give her son posthumous descendants and said the state had a duty to help because it sent him to war.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Maor died while serving as a soldier in the Israeli army in Gaza.
Eizenkot agreed to sperm retrieval while the sperm was still viable.
A court approved Eizenkot’s request for a woman of her choosing to be inseminated with Maor’s sperm.
Eizenkot chose a woman from among hundreds who volunteered.
- Maor Eizenkot
- Died in 2023 while serving in Gaza
- Sperm retrieval window
- 72 hours after death
- Court approval
- Last July
- Volunteers
- Hundreds expressed interest
- Stored sperm
- About 250 soldiers’ samples at four hospitals
What people are saying
I did not send my son to war. The state of Israel did, so it is the state’s duty to do this now,
The same person who gave me the worst news read out the message [asking for consent to retrieve the sperm]. I told him I understood. I saw three words in big letters, ‘retrieval of sperm,’ and I said, ‘I’ll sign.’
Sources
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