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254: POSTHUMOUS
ARTIFICIAL
INSEMINATION WITH
THE HUSBAND’S
SEMEN IN REGARD TO
CHALITZAH
ɳ Question
What is the halachah when a woman is inseminated with her hus-
band’s semen after his death? Does the resulting child exempt her
from chalitzah?
This question is liable to become commonplace nowadays, as ac-
tually happened with astronauts who deposited their semen a sperm
bank before boarding their spacecraft in case damage to their repro-
ductive organs rendered them unable to impregnate their wives or
in case they weren’t fortunate enough to return home alive – they
therefore deposited semen with which to fertilize their wives post-
humously. The question arises as to whether or not a child born
through insemination after his father’s death absolves his mother
from receiving chalitzah.
Dr. ……
ɳ Response
Many authorities allow a man who is unable to impregnate his wife in
Posthumous Artificial Inseminatio 2 45
