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43 Ateneo L.J. 1 (1998-1999)

handle is hein.journals/ateno43 and id is 1 raw text is: 1 ADAPTING POSTMORTEM INSEMINATION TO THE PHILIPPINE SETTING: AN ANALYSIS OF ITS LEGAL CONSEQUENCES CAROLINA V. FuENTES ABSTRACT Before the discovery of artificial insemination, in vitro fertilization, and embryo transfer, reproduction could occur by only one means: sexual intercourse. It was a requirement that a man and woman engage in sexual intercourse during their lifetime in order to have child. If a man died before having children of his own, his opportunity to become a parent also died with him. Whenever the term child was used, in the law or elsewhere, it was reasonable to presume that the child was conceived at a time when both his father and mother were living. It was never imagined that a child could be conceived after the death of his alleged father; neither was the idea of this person demanding his rights against a man's estate equally conceivable. At present, with the advent of postmortem insemination, the above-mentioned scenario is no longer impossible. The procedure of postmortem insemination involves obtaining several vials of sperm from the husband which are stored and kept frozen or cryopreserved. With the aid of glycerol, the sperm is able to withstand the freezing process and outlive the donor husband. After the husband's death, it is still possible for the wife to bear his child by having herself artificially inseminated with the cryopreserved sperm. Although postmortem insemination has not yet been openly introduced in the Philippines, the prospect of Filipino couples resorting to such a procedure is not an impossibility considering the family-oriented and sentimental, if not romantic, nature of Filipinos. The desire to continue the family line has always been part of the Filipino culture. The prospect of postmortem insemination, however, raises some controversial issues of status and inheritance rights of children born under this procedure which our laws are not prepared to address. In addition, the propriety of resorting to such a procedure as will be seen later is also prone to attack on various moral and ethical grounds. This study will show that if adapted in a Philippine setting, resort to postmortem insemination is a fundamental liberty which a couple may not be deprived of Moreover, legal issues brought about by postmortem insemination may well be addressed by proposed amendments to our present law. Digitized from Best Copy Available

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