00:00The families of some Israeli soldiers killed in war are grieving in an unusual way,
00:04by harvesting the deceased soldier's sperm in hopes of allowing them to achieve fatherhood after death.
00:10The BBC reports that the process involves removing tissue from the dead man's testicle,
00:15extracting sperm cells and freezing them.
00:17The IDF proactively offers this service,
00:20but it's a controversial practice which legally requires proof that the deceased wanted to have children.
00:25The BBC says it also presents a conflict between two priorities in Jewish law,
00:30continuing a bloodline and respecting the physical sanctity of the dead.
00:34A recent study published in the journal Andrology questioned 600 Israeli men on the subject
00:39and found that 47% of them opposed the procedure happening at their parents' request,
00:43while 37% opposed it even at the request of a romantic partner.
00:47And the New York Times points out that the specialized nature of the procedure
00:51presents a contrast with the decimated state of the Gaza health system.
00:55In fact, Reuters reports that in December an Israeli shell damaged five nitrogen tanks
00:59at Gaza's largest fertility clinic, destroying over 4,000 embryos
01:04and thereby preventing many Palestinian couples from having children.
