DOH rejects widow's plea to harvest husband's sperm

The Department of Health (DOH) has refused to make an exception for a newlywed who begged to be allowed to harvest sperm from her dead husband's body.

Army Captain Sun Chi-hsiang (孫吉祥) died in a hospital on Wednesday after being injured when the armored vehicle he was driving suddenly accelerated and crashed.

Since Sun was an only son and a newlywed, his parents and wife urged doctors to harvest his sperm so that his wife could try to have a baby through in-vitro fertilization.

The doctors told the widow, Li Hsin-yu (李幸育), that according to the law governing artificial insemination, a man's sperm must be destroyed after his death and that they could not help her unless a special permit was issued.

The department said that it was not willing to set a precedent by making an exception for Li.

Su Shu-chen (蘇淑貞), a eugenics official at the department, said Sun's doctors had asked for special permission, but the spirit of the law is to help infertile couples.

"Since Sun Chi-hsiang has died, there are no provisions in the law that allow us to grant such a request," she said.

Su said that even if doctors had been able to legally retrieve some sperm for Li, in-vitro fertilization for her would be illegal.

Dr. Lee Mao-sheng (李茂盛), gynecologist, said there is a 50 percent to 60 percent chance of success with in-vitro fertilization if the sperm is harvested within 24 hours after a man dies.

After 24 hours, the success rate will drop by 10 percent, he said, and after 48 hours, the procedure is no longer practical.