What happens to people's donated eggs and sperm after they die? | Ellen Trachman
TED Talks Daily
TED
4.1 • 12.1K Ratings
🗓️ 22 June 2022
⏱️ 14 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Today, there are many ways to conceive a child, thanks to assisted reproductive technologies like IVF and egg-freezing. But the law lags behind these advancements, says attorney Ellen Trachman, troubling parents-to-be with stranger-than-fiction mix-ups and baffling lawsuits. Trachman makes the case for legality to reflect the realities of reproductive innovation -- and prompts you to reconsider what could happen to your own genetic material.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | You're listening to Ted Talks daily, I'm Elise Hume. |
| 0:07.0 | Okay, we all know we're supposed to have a will for after we die. |
| 0:10.8 | So it's clear where our assets should go. |
| 0:12.6 | Well, there's something valuable left off from our wills, Attorney Ellen Trachman says. |
| 0:17.8 | In her 2021 talk from TEDx Mile High, she encourages us to think deeper about the ways our DNA |
| 0:24.0 | can live on after we're gone and what we should do to protect it. |
| 0:31.4 | Support for Ted Talks daily comes from Airbnb. |
| 0:34.0 | Okay, every time you stay at an Airbnb, do you ever wonder could my place at home actually |
| 0:40.2 | be an Airbnb, could I rent it out? |
| 0:42.8 | And if I could, what would it earn? |
| 0:44.9 | I think about this sometimes, myself. |
| 0:47.4 | So I was pretty surprised to hear about Lucy and Worcestershire, who realized she could |
| 0:52.4 | convert her empty barn space into a one bedroom Airbnb, how creative, right? |
| 0:58.0 | Now her extra income allows her to focus on her family as a new mom. |
| 1:02.3 | Find out what your place could be earning at arabianbe.co.uk slash host. |
| 1:10.2 | Before his death in California in 1991, a man named William Kane wrote a letter to the |
| 1:17.2 | children from his first marriage and to his fiance, Deborah. |
| 1:21.8 | I read, I address this to my children because although I have only two of you, Everett and |
| 1:28.7 | Katie, it may be the Deborah decides as I hope she will to have a child by me after my |
| 1:36.2 | death. |
| 1:37.2 | I have been a seriously generating sperm samples for that eventuality. |
| 1:42.4 | If she does, then this letter is for my posthumous offspring as well. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from TED, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of TED and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.