Widows can use husbands’ sperm

ISRAELI widows will be able to harvest the sperm of their dead husbands even if the men did not give their consent while alive.

Attorney-General Eliyakim Rubinstein’s legal guidelines would spare Israeli widows a court battle should they wish to bear dead husbands’ children.

“In a situation where a partner is interested in having a child with the sperm of the deceased it is appropriate to allow her to do so,” Rubinstein said. But Rubinstein said a widow would not be able to claim the sperm if the husband had clearly indicated while alive that he did not want it used for artificial insemination of his spouse after his death.