Mother Seeks Collection of Dead Son's Sperm

**Gingersnap** · 04-08-2009, 12:49 PM

Judge OKs collecting of dead son's sperm

Mother of man who died after Sixth Street attack wants to try to have grandchildren.
By Tony Plohetski

AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

Wednesday, April 08, 2009

The mother of a 21-year-old assault victim who died of his injuries received permission Tuesday for his sperm to be collected post-mortem, giving her the chance to have a grandchild through a surrogate mother.

Travis County Probate Judge Guy Herman ordered the medical examiner's office to maintain the body of Nikolas Colton Evans until his sperm can be taken.

Herman also said officials at the office must provide access so an expert can take the specimen.

Herman issued the orders after an emergency hearing at the request of Marissa Evans, whose son died Sunday after being punched and falling during a March 27 assault on East Sixth Street.

"I want him to live on," Evans said. "I want to keep a piece of him."

She said that her son had frequently talked about his desire to have three sons and had chosen their names: Hunter, Tod and Van.

Marissa Evans and her attorneys were trying Tuesday to find a urologist or other medical expert willing to collect the sperm. According to medical experts and published reports, whether such sperm is useful often depends on how quickly it is collected after death.

University of Texas law professor John Robertson, who specializes in bioethics, said that state law gives parents control over a child's body for donation of organs and tissues but that "this use is very unclear."

"There are no strong precedents in favor of a parent being able to request post-mortem sperm retrieval," he said.

Ethically, I'm going with "no" on this one. :eek:

Statesman

**linda22003** · 04-08-2009, 12:53 PM

It also doesn't pass the "ewwww" test.

**bijou** · 04-08-2009, 01:16 PM

What I really want to know is, is who is she proposing has the child(ren)?

**linda22003** · 04-08-2009, 01:21 PM

The story says she has another son. That's where her grandchildren will have to come from.

**noonwitch** · 04-08-2009, 01:34 PM

Originally Posted by linda22003

The story says she has another son. That's where her grandchildren will have to come from.

Even if she didn't, she can be a scout leader or something, to indulge her maternal/grandparent instincts.

**FlaGator** · 04-08-2009, 02:04 PM

Sperm froma dead boy? I'm pretty certain that this is how most Zombie infestations start.

**linda22003** · 04-08-2009, 02:24 PM

Originally Posted by FlaGator

Sperm for a dead boy? I'm pretty certain that this is how most Zombie infestations start.

Growing their own, you mean? Could be. Speaking of zombies, I'm sure some on CU will be interested in the new book, "Breathers", a zombie book that was reviewed in the Washington Post this morning:

"Andy Warner was just an average 34-year-old Californian when he slammed his Passat into a redwood tree in a freak accident, killing himself and his wife and orphaning their young daughter. This would be the end of his story except that, "reanimated," he's now a widowed zombie who limps around smelling of decomposing flesh (because he's decomposing). He leaves the hideout in his parents' wine cellar only to visit a therapist and attend Undead Anonymous meetings. Happily for him, at UA he meets a hot 23-year-old suicide and, more good news, "zombie sex is phenomenally superior to Breather sex." The publisher calls S.G. Browne's Breathers (Broadway; Paperback, $14) a romantic zombie comedy, or -- this is cute -- a rom-zom-com. But having a low gross-out threshold, I was primarily nauseated. Andy sneezes, a piece of brain comes out his nose. A stitch pops at lunch and, oops, a chunk of rotting tissue graces his gazpacho. It's all here: maggots, skin flaps, cannibalism, frat boys. Talk about deadpan humor."

**AHeneen** · 04-10-2009, 04:25 AM

Texas judge allows collection of dead son's sperm
AP

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A judge has granted a mother's request to have someone harvest sperm from her dead son's body, so she can have the option of carrying out his wish to have children. Nikolas Colton Evans, 21, died Sunday at a Brackenridge hospital after being punched and falling outside an Austin bar March 27.
His mother, Marissa Evans, told the Austin American-Statesman newspaper that he wanted to have three sons someday and had even picked out their names: Hunter, Tod and Van.
"I want him to live on. I want to keep a piece of him," she told the newspaper.
Travis County Probate Judge Guy Herman ruled Monday in an emergency hearing requested by the mother, because of the urgency of collecting the sperm intact.
Court documents said the sperm had to be collected within 24 hours of Nikolas Evans being removed from life support unless the body was cooled to no more than 39.2 degrees.
Herman ordered the county medical examiner's office to continue storing the body at the proper temperature until the sperm could be collected.
Other organs and tissues were already going to be harvested from Evans' body, the judge noted, and there would be no other remedy for the mother if time expired.
Evans and her attorneys were trying on Tuesday to find a urologist or other medical professional willing to collect the sperm for a possible surrogate pregnancy in the future.
University of Texas law professor John Robertson, who specializes in bioethics, said state law gives parents control over a child's body for organ and tissue donations but its use for sperm "is very unclear."
"There are no strong precedents in favor of a parent being able to request post-mortem sperm retrieval," he said.
No arrests have been made in the assault on Nikolas Evans. Investigators said Evans hit his head on the ground after he was punched during an argument with a group of men.