Legal and medical aspects of the problem of postmortem donation in reproductive medicine

The reproductive system plays a crucial role in preserving the human race. The health of the reproductive system reflects not only the genetic viability of future generations but also overall health. It is also related to numerous human rights, including the right to life, liberty, personal integrity, health, education, and the principle of equality and non-discrimination. The state, on the other hand, has positive obligations to ensure the observance, protection, and implementation of reproductive rights. Everyone has the right to the highest attainable level of physical and mental health. Any individual or couple has the right to decide how many children to have, when to have them, and at what intervals, even if it involves postmortem reproduction. That is why it is necessary to pay attention to the need to ensure the rights of servicemen to biological paternity (motherhood), which is extremely important, especially in the context of martial law in Ukraine.Despite some controversial aspects arising in the context of postmortem donation in Ukraine, it is the duty of the legislator to adopt laws and create legal provisions that can properly regulate this area. In doing so, the principle of proportionality should be taken into account, which can help to achieve the necessary balance between personal integrity and respect for the body after death, on the one hand, and the right to family, on the other. It should be understood that the experience of states at war has highlighted the urgency of postmortem donation and the position of society on its legal integration along with other areas of social relations that are subject to regulation. Military service, given its daily risks, can certainly compromise fertility, particularly through genitourinary trauma that can be associated with combat, gonadotoxic exposure, and physical separation from a partner.In addition, the issue of disposing of oocytes in case of death or declaration of death of a servicewoman remains unaddressed. Implementation of postmortem donation in the event of the death of a female military service member is possible only through surrogate motherhood. However, the current legislation in this area does not regulate the possibility of in vitro fertilization after the death of one of the spouses and completely “bypasses” any derivative issues related to surrogate motherhood after death.