An Israeli court has allowed the parents of a dead 17-year-old woman to remove her eggs for future use. This is the first case of its kind in Israel, possibly the first in the world. Hen Aida Ayish, was critically injured in a car accident a fortnight ago. She was taken to Meir Hospital in Kfar Sava, and a week later doctors declared her brain-dead.

With the consent of Ayish’s family her other organs saved the lives of four patients. But the family’s second request was denied. Bizarrely, medical personnel said that the family wanted the eggs to be fertilised with the sperm of another dead body. This definitely would have been a world first: a baby whose father and mother both died before she was even conceived. The hospital declined.

Ayish’s family did not explain why they sought the egg extraction. The court has only allowed the extraction of the eggs, but their future is undecided. According to guidelines issued by the attorney general in 2003, the use of sperm for a body is only permissible when used to fertilised the widow of the deceased. Parents who seek to use the sperm from a body must gain private permission in court. ~ Haaretz, Aug 7