Posthumous Donation and Consent

Abstract

In this chapter I consider the need for consent in two cases of posthumous donation of parts of one’s body: organ donation and the donation of sperm to allow one’s partner to conceive a child after one’s death. What kind of consent is appropriate in these cases and why? In both cases, jurisdictions tend to prefer explicit consent, although many countries now adopt presumed consent (opt-out) in the case of organ donation, and there has been a recent plea for presumed consent in the case of sperm donation as well. In this chapter I first argue that arguments in favour of presumed consent are inadequate as they stand, and then describe another way of understanding opt-out schemes, one that focuses on different models of what is at stake and on the ethical requirements incurred on such models.

Citation

Kroon, F. (2016), "Posthumous Donation and Consent", Contemporary Issues in Applied and Professional Ethics (Research in Ethical Issues in Organizations, Vol. 15), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 103-119. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1529-209620160000015006