From Consent to the Posthumous Use of Reproductive Material to Establishing a Child’s Parentage: The Issue of the Unity of Declarations of Will

The article examines the relationship between a deceased person’s consent to the posthumous use of reproductive material and parental intent relevant to the establishment of parentage. Based on foreign and Russian legal practice, it distinguishes between a general intention to have a child, consent to the posthumous use of reproductive material, and parental intent. It argues that proof of an expression of will does not necessarily establish the legal sufficiency of its content for every legal consequence. A model is proposed under which sufficiently specific consent to posthumous use may give rise to a rebuttable presumption of parental intent, whereas a general intention to have children or cryopreservation alone is insufficient.