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I put this doubt [as to the Noda B’yehudah’s intention] to my fa-
ther-in-law, Rav Y.S. Elyashiv zt”l, and he responded as follows:

The first side of our doubt is probably correct, namely that if a
man left sperm in a test tube and it was injected into his wife after his
death, she requires chalitzah even according to the Noda B’yehudah’s
final conclusion. Proof to this can be adduced from Yevamos (35b),
where the gemara says:“Said Resh Lakish,‘A pregnant woman whose
husband died cannot participate in chalitzah while she is pregnant [in
order to marry another man should her fetus die].’” [In other words,
the Torah says that yibum is required when a man dies “u’ven ayn lo,
without a child” and by reading the word ayn as ayin we interpret this
to mean, “ayein alav, investigate him” i.e. look into the matter to see
if there is any way that a child may be born to him – did he leave his
wife pregnant? As long as such a possibility exists, says Resh Lakish,
it is forbidden to do yibum and chalitzah too, is ineffective]. It is logical
that if the woman is not pregnant but her husband left sperm in a
test tube, she can do chalitzah and then marry any other man, because
Rabbi Yochanan permits a woman to do chalitzah even while she is
pregnant, because her husband died “without a child” and her fetus is
not yet considered a child. We find Resh Lakish arguing with Rabbi
Yochanan only in the case of a woman who is actually pregnant be-
cause he considers the fetus as a child but it is not logical to broaden
their dispute to include a case where there is semen in a test tube and
say that even then Resh Lakish includes this under the heading of
“investigate him,” preventing her from having yibum or chalitzah. [If
we claimed that sperm left by the husband in a test tube is included
in “investigate him” and prevents her from remarrying, we would not
allow her to marry even after she grows old and is no longer able to
undergo fertilization and become pregnant, for the sperm would still
be able to impregnate a younger single woman. Thus, were sperm in a
test tube included in the category of “investigate him” the wife would
remain forbidden both to the yavam as well as to everyone else, so
long as the sperm remained in existence.]

Accordingly, it emerges that if at the time of the husband’s death,

Posthumous Artificial Inseminatio 2 55