The head of the association, Liu Zhi-hong (劉志鴻), said that in Europe, the US and other countries, the rights of single women to conceive are well-protected and considered to be a basic human right. However, such a view is at the cost of the legal rights of the deceased. In the UK, sperm retrieval of the deceased is only possible providing the husband had adequate counselling at the time of semen donation and had furnished written consent.
From a more practical standpoint, the head of the gynecology department at Chen Hsin Rehabilitation Medical Center Hospital, Shih Guang-shing (
"What about the victims of the explosion a few days ago? Will they be asking for posthumous sperm retrievals, too?"
Shih said that this was "a decision made in the heat of the moment, but if the child is to be born, she or he will have a whole life ahead of them."
Shih also felt that the issue the government should face is how the accident happened, and not whether sperm retrieval is an option.
This remains a controversial issue worldwide. Like Taiwan, laws regarding posthumous sperm retrieval remain unpassed in Japan, and in the US there is no single definitive law relating to this issue.
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