Israeli Research Challenges Assumptions on Soldiers’ Posthumous Parenthood
A new study and wartime policy shifts are forcing Israel to confront who gets to decide on posthumous sperm retrieval and when consent should be recorded
Nearly half of Israeli men say they would oppose posthumous use of their sperm by parents—and more than a third would oppose a partner doing so—according to a recently published peer-reviewed study now fueling a policy debate over consent in wartime. The findings land as Israel has dramatically expanded access to posthumous sperm retrieval since Oct. 7, creating a legal and ethical gray zone that courts and clinics are being asked to navigate under tight medical timelines.
The survey showed that 47% of men opposed their parents initiating the process of posthumous assisted reproduction to produce a grandchild. Similarly, more than one-third (37%) of men in committed relationships said that in the event of sudden death, they would not want their partner to do so either.
Prof. Bella Savitsky of the Department of Nursing in the School of Public Health Sciences at Ashkelon Academic College, and the mother of Jonathan, 21, who fell in battle on October 7, said the findings point to the need to obtain soldiers’ consent before they ever enter combat.
The assumption that almost every man desires genetic continuity, even after his death, is not accurate: A considerable proportion of men oppose the procedure
“The assumption that almost every man desires genetic continuity, even after his death, is not accurate: a considerable proportion of men oppose the procedure,” Savitsky wrote in her research, published in the Israel Journal of Health Policy Research. “Therefore, it is crucial to ask men themselves while they are alive, and to perform the extraction only among those who were interested in continuity in these circumstances or at least did not object to it.”
Health Ministry data shows that between October 7, 2023, and August 26, 2025, doctors performed 240 sperm retrieval procedures on fallen soldiers. Of these, 53 (22%) were requested by the soldiers’ partners, while 187 (78%) were initiated by parents. The imbalance reflects the reality that most soldiers are young and unmarried.
The Media Line obtained the data shortly after the birth of a son to Hadas Levy, whose partner, Capt. Netanel Silberg, was killed in Gaza. Levy gave birth in June using sperm collected from Silberg after his death, becoming the first woman in Israel to do so since October 7.
Before the October 7 massacre, the policy was that a deceased man’s long-term partner—even if not legally married under Jewish law—could request sperm retrieval without a court order. Parents, however, were required to obtain court approval.
That changed on October 11, 2023, when a special order allowed parents, too, to request retrieval without court intervention. Around the same time, it also became standard procedure for the officers who deliver the news of a soldier’s death to inform the family that sperm retrieval is an option.
They should proactively suggest the family do it
“They should proactively suggest the family do it,” Savitsky told The Media Line. “This is very new.”
Still, retrieval is only the first step. Once sperm is stored in a sperm bank, both partners and parents must obtain separate court approval to use it.
So far, three young female partners of fallen soldiers—including Levy—have petitioned the court and received approval to use their partners’ sperm, according to Savitsky.
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For parents, the process is far more complex. They must not only receive court approval but also find a woman willing to raise the child. Surrogates are not permitted.
“She should be a woman who wants to be a mother for this child, to raise the child from that soldier,” Savitsky said. “The court will also have to approve the woman because it wants to be sure she’s doing it without economic or mental pressure. So when we’re speaking about parents, it will be a much longer and more difficult story.”
Israel is more permissive on this issue than many other countries, largely because of the culture’s strong emphasis on family. In France, Germany, Norway, Sweden, and Slovenia, posthumous sperm retrieval (PSR) is banned even if the man gave consent before his death. By contrast, in countries like the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States, the procedure is allowed but only with prior consent.
Savitsky argues that Israeli soldiers should also be required to give explicit consent, and that this step should be incorporated into the recruitment process for both regular and reserve troops. To gauge men’s views, she surveyed 600 Jewish Israelis through Facebook, radio, newspapers, and WhatsApp groups. The average participant was 32 years old; just over half were married or in relationships, and about 6.5% identified as being in same-sex relationships. Most respondents (63%) described themselves as secular, 21% as traditional, and 16% as religious. Roughly a third had served in combat during the current war, 21% in non-combat roles, and 44% had not been involved.
The results showed significant resistance: 37% of men said they would not want their partner to use their sperm after death, and 47% said they would not want their parents to do so.
“While it is understandable that grieving parents seek solace through PSR … a considerable proportion do not support the process as it is currently performed,” Savitsky emphasized.
In follow-up research, she dug deeper into the reasons behind this opposition.
Views varied by religious affiliation. Traditional men were somewhat more open to PSR, while secular and especially religious men were more likely to reject it. Among religious respondents, the main concern was “a planned orphanhood”—deliberately bringing a child into the world without a father. Many argued that a child deserves two living parents and that PSR violates this principle.
Another common concern was that parents should not have the right to make reproductive decisions for their sons, living or deceased. Some feared that a child conceived this way might be seen more as a memorial to the fallen soldier than as an independent person, raising difficult emotional questions.
Other participants stressed the importance of respecting the soldier’s own wishes. Using sperm without prior consent was seen as a violation of personal autonomy, even after death.
However, the study did find that men want to be asked. Nearly two-thirds (71%) said they prefer to document their PSR preferences, with 70% advocating for consent during recruitment for regular military service and 78% before reserve service.
Respecting autonomy and honoring the wishes of the deceased by obtaining prior consent is a crucial ethical principle in postmortem sperm retrieval
“Today, sperm retrieval is performed following the family’s request after notification of the soldier’s fall. This creates unnecessary delay in the process, which now depends on how quickly the notifications reach the family, as the success of the process depends on the execution timing,” noted Savitsky in her writing. “Respecting autonomy and honoring the wishes of the deceased by obtaining prior consent is a crucial ethical principle in postmortem sperm retrieval. Our study shows that it is inaccurate to assume that almost every man desires genetic continuity even after death.”
There is also debate over when consent should be given. Some say soldiers should be asked upon enlistment, while others argue that 18-year-olds may be too young to fully understand the consequences of such a decision. “There was concern that 18-year-old recruits did not understand the ramifications of their decision,” Savitsky noted.
Savitsky has been advocating in the Knesset and is preparing to present her findings to the army. Her proposal calls for opening a file for every draftee to record his wishes regarding PSR. If a soldier consents, his body would automatically be transferred to a hospital for the procedure. Once the sperm is stored, parents or partners would be informed of how to access it.
This, she argues, would ease the burden of explaining options to grieving families in the immediate aftermath of a soldier’s death. “It is such a difficult moment,” she said. “And the decision cannot be undone. … It’s important to remove this decision from such a profoundly difficult moment.”
Another idea is encouraging live sperm retrieval for consenting soldiers before they go into battle. The sperm could be stored free of charge until the age of 40. After that, men could keep it for a relatively low fee—around $100 a year.
At Rabin Medical Center, Dr. Eran Altman, director of the Sperm Bank and Male Infertility Unit, told The Media Line that his team had performed around 55 posthumous sperm retrievals from Israeli soldiers. He agreed with Savitsky that knowing soldiers’ wishes in advance “would help us a lot.”
Dr. Altman explained that the procedure is simple. It usually involves little to no bleeding, takes about 20 minutes to complete, and requires another two hours for the sperm to be processed and frozen. However, time is critical: Sperm should be extracted within 24 to 48 hours to remain viable, and after 72 hours, it is usually no longer viable.
Savitsky knows this from painful personal experience. Her son, Jonathan, was killed on October 7 while fighting at the Kissufim base in southern Israel. She was only informed of his death two days later, on the night of October 9. By the time she inquired about sperm retrieval and obtained court approval, it was too late.
“I was thinking, what can I do to prevent such a thing in the future?” she said. “That’s why I started this project about convincing the army not to start the process from the soldier’s family home, but immediately after a soldier’s death—to do this sperm retrieval according to what the man said when he was alive, if he agrees.”
Dr. Altman added that before the war, sperm retrieval from deceased men was rare. However, since October 7, with more than 900 soldiers killed the practice has surged. He also linked the shift to changing social norms, pointing out that single-parent families are more widely accepted today. “I can say from experience, talking and dealing with families of fallen soldiers, it is very important to them,” he said. “It helps them in many ways with grief. It helps them to keep a piece of their loved ones after they die.”
Savitsky stressed that the young men dying on the battlefield are among the country’s best. For parents, losing a child is “inconceivable,” she said, but the possibility of genetic continuity can “relieve some of the pain.”
“I’m trying to do something to prevent additional cases of such awful disappointment,” Savitsky concluded.
